Drowning in my Dearly Beloved
by Aoi Para
Summary: Could I be blamed? No, not really. Of course, I wanted to laugh at how far I'd fallen. What would Sora think of me now? Post KH2, OOC, Multiple Pairngs, Main oneside RiSo, SoKai Rated M for many reasons. Please read at least through the second chapter.
1. The Beginning Part One

**Warnings:** yaoi, limes, mild lemons, other mature content, OOCness, language, mild character bashing, emoness.

**Author's Note:** This is my first fanfic that I've actually put a lot of effort into. I put a book I'm writing on hold for this idea. Don't bother flaming because it'll make me do it more. Don't like, don't read. This takes place several years after KH2, and I guess in a way could be a KH3 fic, but it has nothing to do with actual Kingdom Hearts yet… But that might change somewhere along the line. I'm really only bothering with this as a side project and because I haven't really seen a lot of fics similar to this. I enjoy my stories just as much as the readers (because after a month I forget what I wrote and go back and read it and get frustrated at the stopping point too). Jyaa, R&R. It will inspire more. Expect updates to be slow. I'm an Art and all honors high school student. The work load is weird most nights. Damn this note is getting long…

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Kingdom Hearts Riku and Sora would have made out when they found each other again. But sadly I don't and we have to put up with simple ass grabbing from Sora at the end.

"Oh, gawd. Do that again!" I moaned as the skilled man above me rammed hard into my sweet spot. Sweat and blood coated our bodies and God knows I'd already climaxed at least twice before. But he hadn't even once. Though, we had changed positions every time I came. He was just insatiable. But I wasn't complaining much. This little tryst was getting on Cloud's nerves and it was rather satisfying that I could at least make someone jealous. I almost screamed as a strong hand grabbed my cock. He must've been close since he never did such things unless he wanted that little extra push.

When we both came together I couldn't stay alert, my senses being so overloaded as they were. Before my partner- lover never seemed like the right word- could even pull out I was drifting off. But could I be blamed? No, not really. Of course, I wanted to laugh at how far I'd fallen. About the only thing in a relationship- if it could even be called that- with Sephiroth was the sex. Everything was off and on, violent, and confusing. And to top it off, it was obvious that I was just a substitute for an unwilling Cloud. What would Sora think of me now?

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Cloud's eyes were so beautiful, but they honestly couldn't ever stand up to Sora's. Those deep cerulean pools that glinted with Mako were also tinted with a heavy darkness that Sora had always managed to stave off those years we had our adventures. When I spent time with Cloud, and sometimes with Sephiroth, I often found myself wondering that if our roles had been reversed and the keyblade of light had chosen me, if Sora would have ended up similar to Cloud. They really did look alike.

"Riku. Where is Sephiroth?" Each of his words were said in a low, restrained anger.

"Hell if I should know," I said, rubbing the last of the sleep from my eyes. And fuck, my back ached horribly. It was a miracle that I could even walk.

"He's you're boyfriend, you're supposed to know where he is." Cloud was growing more rabid by the minute. It'd only be a matter of time before he'd storm either past me or out the apartment complex in search of Sephiroth.

"Try boytoy, Cloud. I really don't know. He was gone when you woke me up." Cloud's features softened ever so slightly in understanding. You didn't _date_ Sephiroth; he visited when he wanted something. It wasn't hugs and cuddles; it was all rough kisses and violent sex. But what wonderful sex it was, nonetheless. Gawd, I was becoming such a masochist.

"Fine, I understand. But go see Aerith. Those marks don't look to good," the blonde said as he nodded and turned away. Aerith. She was Cloud's excuse for not joining Sephiroth. She was his light, or at least that's what he said. Yet everyone who knew Cloud well knew that what he really wanted was Sephiroth-- or Leon, since he gave mixed signals every once in a while. No one said anything though. Even Aerith herself had told me that Cloud would finally come to terms with himself and leave her someday.

Dejectedly, I closed the door and stripped of the clothing I had thrown on to be decent, which wasn't more than an under shirt and boxers. A nice hot shower and coffee sounded delightful. Then maybe if I felt the 'love' marks were bad enough, I'd go see Aerith. It was a bother since the new apartment complex she, Cloud, Leon, and Yuffie took residence in was on the other side of the half rebuilt city. I, on the other hand, lived in a section of town closer to the Heartless castle. Funny how easily I started falling back into darkness when I returned here, returned to Radiant Garden. But it would always be Hallow Bastion to me. Always.

When I finally got a good look at myself in the mirror, I winced. Cloud was right. Sephiroth's 'love' marks were particularly nasty this time. Most likely due to the fact that he swept me up in the middle of sparring in favor of duking it out on a bed. Masamune had left fairly nice wounds on my arms, chest, legs, and most likely my back as well, considering how it stung delightfully the night before when the one winged angel dug his claws in certain areas. I was definitely turning into a masochist. But the wounds were beyond my ability to heal alone, despite the fact that I was currently more physically fit than any point during my search for Kairi and Sora.

I turned the water in the shower on cold and stepped in. The cold water would do a much better job at getting off what was left of the dried blood, despite being uncomfortable. Sighing, I began shampooing my mid-back length hair and watched pink suds and water drain from the shower. After a good fifteen minutes of scrubbing dried and crusted blood off some of the deeper wounds and my back, I turned the water off and put in my leave in conditioner. I still insisted on taking damn good care of my hair, but the main reason now being that Sephiroth's was absolutely fabulous and he didn't do a thing to it. I just _had_ to reach that level of perfection. The man didn't even have so much as a split end or wrinkle-- which was amazing since he was in his mid to late thirties already.

With a towel around my waist I headed back in my bedroom. The site of the sheets made me cringe. They probably couldn't handle another bleaching. It was time to throw them out. Ignoring clean up for the time being, I headed to my closet. Seeing no need to keep an overly large wardrobe, I kept maybe five outfits at best. Often it was less since Sephiroth wasn't exactly mindful of my clothing. I picked out the outfit that would cover the most skin, as to not show off the lovely wounds.

Before dressing in the wide-legged midnight blue pants and zip-up, long sleeved black cardigan turtle neck, I made sure to cure any minor wounds away and bandage over the deepest. It was the least I could do to control any future bleeding. I guess the whole problem could be avoided if I kept a nice stock of potions and elixirs like Leon and Cloud. They were too expensive on my salary, however. Buying an elixir was like spending a week's pay and trying to scrounge up the materials was counter productive. Potions and high-potions were somewhat useless things since they required multiples to completely heal me. Besides the fact that they had all had to be bought in group sums, Sephiroth was bond to make sure I went through all the potions and elixirs the night I bought them.

I pulled on a pair of black commando boots and left, not bothering to eat breakfast. I stopped eating breakfast back in middle school and just never broke the habit. Back then it was more for appearance than it was lack of hunger. I just wasn't that hungry anymore, especially on the day after with Sephiroth. I just seemed to feed off his darkness.

The walk was long, but it was a nice warm-up for my training later, nevertheless. The apartment building the others took residence in was one of the biggest and classiest in the city. They lived there practically free of charge since they were the founders of the restoration committee. Cloud and Aerith lived together in an apartment about half way up. Leon had claimed the sole Penthouse apartment and Yuffie was somewhere in the lower levels. Cid lived on the outskirts of town, nearer the new castle, running his Gummi Shipping, Spacelines, and Repair business. Under normal circumstances, and on a weekday, I would be heading over to his office to work. It was really the only thing I could do besides physical labor and fighting.

Walking down the busy city streets many people stared at me. I knew a lot of people knew me and they knew it wasn't uncommon for me to beat up from training. I knew most of the people were looking because they like what they saw. It was all those prying eyes that made me hate the way I look in the end. Sure, I wanted to be perfect like Sephiroth, but it didn't stop me from hating the way I looked and acted. It never really helped me when I really wanted something. My looks never helped me catch Sora's attention. I was grateful when I finally reached Aerith's door in the apartment complex. I knocked hard and waited a moment for her to answer.

When the brunette answered the door, she gasped a little. It wasn't like this was an uncommon thing for me to do. I'd been doing it for the last three or so years, after all. She ushered me in with a quick, "Oh my. I really wish you'd break it off with him."

Aside from helping with the restoration, Aerith had started up a nice little flower shop and donated most of the money to families that had members fall victim to the heartless. It was the least anyone could do. They hadn't exactly disappeared completely yet, anyway. But the flower shop gig suited her to the fullest. She was just so gentle and caring. So different from Sephiroth.

"Mmmm... You know I can't. He's like a wonderful drug," I replied with a half sheepish and half conceited grin on my face. Sephiroth was like a drug. A damn good one at that.

"Then maybe we should send you to rehab. They just opened one on your side of town, you know," a much deeper, monotone voice joked. Leon? Why was he here? I peaked over Aerith's head to see the older man lounging on the couch in his usual fighting clothes.

"Oh, sorry! Leon's here. I hope you don't mind?" Aerith said, ushering me over to a couch in the living room.

"So, what are you doing here, Leon?" I asked as I took at seat in a chair across from him.

"I came to see Cloud, but he was already gone by the time I got here."

"Disappeared not long after breakfast," Aerith added.

"Ah, well, he stopped by my place about an hour or so ago. He was looking for Sephiroth."

"Then I guess that settles that. I should head down to the dojo then." Leon stood and nodded at me before heading to the door. "Take care," He said, looking directly at me before leaving. I sighed and turned towards Aerith. She smiled and nodded. She and cloud kept all of their healing items in the bathroom. I knew she was planning on washing the wounds with potion before curing them. Dutifully, I removed my shirt first. We'd been through this procedure so many times that it really didn't affect either of us. Cloud wasn't even bothered by it anymore. Besides, Aerith was like an older sister or aunt to me after all these years.

When Aerith came back she did little more than sigh and start treating the wounds, starting with the deepest. I didn't so much as flinch into her prodding. I enjoyed the pain- at least to an extent, since she was always so much more gentle than Sephiroth. My masochism was bound to be rooted in when I started cutting when I was thirteen. That was when I realized what I really felt towards...

Aerith started curing the wounds on my back. The feeling was strange yet pleasant at the same time. It was a weird sort of tingling feeling in the area being cured. After a moment, Aerith spoke, "So how are things with Sephiroth?"

"It's been the same, more or less," I sighed as I leaned back into her hands.

"The wounds are bad this time," she murmured as she pulled away and moved around front. She rested her hand on my lean, sculpted, and very marred chest. Some wounds just couldn't be erased so easily. "Some of these will scar."

"We were sparring. Two days in a row." Aerith nodded and took that as an acceptable answer.

"You're off work today, right? When do you go back to work?" Aerith's hands dropped to my stomach.

"Tomorrow. You know how Cid always has to have Sundays off."

"Yeah, I guess your right. Leon might enjoy your help if you've got nothing to do."

"I might stop by the dojo then. Kicking Leon's ass is way more entertaining than sparring by myself." Aerith laughed as she pulled away and handed me my shirt. I pulled it back over my head and stood. Now came the more awkward, less dignified part of the treatment. I dropped my pants to the floor and remained still and quiet as Aerith worked on my legs. Anything on my more private parts had already been healed. I didn't exactly want to flaunt my stuff in front of a practically married woman-- that just so happened to date my almost nonexistent rival. I pulled my pant back up after she finished. Nodding gratefully, I asked, "You sure there's not anything I can do to repay you?"

"Well, I do have an errand that would be a little hard for me to do today. I should have asked Leon to do it, but it slipped my mind," Aerith said as she stood up. She was so little compared to me. Even Cloud and Leon were shorter than me, come to think of it, But I guess it didn't really matter either way.

"Sure. Anything you need. It's the least I can do." I smiled down at her-- the winning wonder smile that made men and women alike melt like goo. That smile never really worked on Aerith though. She only smile that could fully bend her was one of Cloud's rare ones. I'd seen it happen on occasion.

"I need you to run down to my shop and deliver a bouquet of roses to one of Leon's students. I'd take it to her house, but I think this will be much easier for me," she said with her own bright smile.

"In that case, I might as well get a move on. Can't let down a girl that's expecting flowers." We both laughed an easy laugh, but my was partially empty. It had been for a year or two now and Aerith knew it best out of anyone. She placed her hand on my arm and looked at me seriously.

"Please, take care of yourself." I nodded and took my leave. People had been telling me that too much lately ad I knew what they were hinting at. They were afraid Sephiroth would swallow me whole.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

I pushed open the doors to Leon and Cloud's martial arts dojo with a bouquet of two-dozen roses in hand. Several of the students became distracted by my entrance and got knocked on their asses and several of the females flushed. I kicked off my boots and walked across the mats to the special girl. I presented the roses and I could hear several of the other girls in the room grumble in jealousy.

"From your boyfriend," I clarified before she could voice her misunderstanding. "Happy Anniversary."

"Riku," Leon's deep monotone voice called out to me from across the room. "What are you doing here?"

"Ha, well I thought I'd come help out since Cloud's dropped off the face of the earth. Think we could do a sparing match?" I walked towards the older man. He met me half way and looked up into my eyes.

"Thanks but no thanks. After the way you looked an hour and a half ago, I don't think you'd be up to your normal level."

"Fine, then I'll be happy to teach. I've got nothing better to do." Leon nodded solemnly. He needed the help. There were around fifty people in each class learning martial arts from him and Cloud and when one couldn't make it, all hell usually broke out in class. I took a largely male portion of the class, leaving the fangirls to Leon. The only reason over half the girls were even here was because Leon and Cloud were drop dead gorgeous. I was just an added bonus from time to time.

By the time the day actually ended I had broken a light sweat. It was more from the heat of the room than actual work, but I was still sweaty. Leon had offered me dinner in return for my help, but I had to turn him down. I still wasn't hungry. I made my way home and was greeted at the door by a frisky, half dressed Sephiroth. He had me pushed to the door the moment I closed it, his lips against mine. Something wasn't quite right. They were bruised.

That line of thought left me though as Sephiroth's hand cupped my ass and pulled me flush against him and his already hard cock. His hands went everywhere, but finally settled on my nipples. He pinched and twisted them as he began to trail his lips to my neck. I waited for him to bite, or claw, or something, but it never came. My bad feeling came back as he hefted me up so my legs could wrap around his waist and he carried me to the bed room. As he dropped me on the bed and climbed on top of me, I gasped out, "You slept with him."

Sephiroth made no reply. Instead, he kept moving forward. His hands were gentler than anytime in the past years. He even prepared me- something he hadn't done since the first time. Our rhythm was painfully slow and passionate. And despite how much more mind blowing his gentle sex was compared to the rough bloody sex I was used too, I couldn't help but laugh at myself in my after glow. I stayed awake and as Sephiroth got up to leave, I couldn't help asking:

"You're not coming back, are you?"

I laughed myself to sleep.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

I dreamt for the first time in a long time after sex. But I guess it was really more of a memory than a dream. I was walking in the wastelands past the Crystal Fissure, heading to the Heartless Castle. It was where I had started to train. Getting there was half the workout since after the cliff that dropped down, it was a series of crevices and gorges that wound to the castle base. When I reached the cliff, a tall man with long flowing silver hair stood looking out over the still desolate land. As I approached, he whirled on me. I jumped back several feet and called the keyblade forth. The man chuckled at me and in a silky deep voice, called out, "Another Keyblade master? What is it you seek?"

"I'm going to train. I don't have any business with you." I was puzzled by this man's words. It was no doubt Sephiroth, the very man that everyone in Radiant Garden had warned me about.

"I do not believe you," he said as he drew his sword and charged me. We engaged in battle, seemingly evenly matched. The exact movements eluded me, but the match ended abruptly when Sephiroth slammed me into another cliff face and pinned my hands above my head and pressed his sword against my throat. He stood only an inch taller than me but his broad shoulders and sharp eyes made me feel like an ant. He leaned closer, his lips almost brushing mine as he whispered, "You are a child of the darkness. You reek of it. I am what you seek."

He pulled away and disappeared. Just vanished into this air. That was when I first became infatuated with the man. When I woke from my sleep, I laughed. I laughed because there were no more tears to cry. They had all been shed years ago on Destiny Island.

I pulled myself out of bed and ripped the sheets off it. Last night would be the last time I let another man in my bed. I could only imagine what Aerith was going through. Not caring about my nakedness, I dragged the sheets across the apartment and shoved them into the kitchen trashcan. I threw myself into a cold shower and worked quickly. I'd go into Cid's early and call Aerith from there. I'd never seen the real importance in getting a phone.

I dressed in a yellow, sleeveless knit top with a black, cropped jacket over top and a pair of black boot cut jeans. I pulled on my boots before leaving and making my way to Cid's. The old coot was still drinking his first cup of coffee when I came in.

"Well look what the dragged in so early. Why the fuck you here?"

"I need to use your phone."

"At five in the fucking morning?"

"It's about Cloud." The old coot sobered up then. He muttered something incoherent and waved at the phone. I dialed the number swiftly from memory. It took four rings before a groggy Aerith answered the phone.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep.

"Did Cloud come home last night?" I got straight to the point, my sanity teetering on the edge.

"Riku?"

"Just answer the question Aerith. Yes or no?"

"Yes, he did."

"Where is he now?"

"Oh, god," Aerith gasped, probably catching onto my train of thought. "And Sephiroth?"

"Been gone for several hours."

"I'm so sorry." I could tell she was holding back tears.

"No. It should be me that's sorry. Nothing's your fault Aerith.

"What… will happen from here?"

"I'm not sure, Aerith. We'll just have to move forward. We'll look for Cloud. We'll bring him back like Sora brought me back, someday, at least." Aerith sniffled and took a deep shuddering breath. She was strong at heart, though she didn't look it all the time.

"You're right. It would be stupid of us to give up now, Riku." The corners of my lips curled up ever so slightly at her remark. She was Cloud's light. We would bring him back.

"Uh, well, I should go. I'm racking up Cid's phone bill. Maybe you could come to the dojo. And we'll all spend time together? Maybe come up with a game plan?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful. Goodbye." Aerith hung up with out waiting for my reply. I didn't really blame her. She wasn't one to let others see or hear her cry.

"So, he finally ran off?" Cid said, his tone somewhat rude.

"So what if he did?" I snapped back at the coot.

"Go get started on working, kid. Get most of it done and I'll let you off early. And do it right. You fuck up too much when you're depressed." At laughed dryly at cid, but the smile on my face was every bit real. Crazy coot.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Sparks flew as Way to Dawn scrapped against Leon's gunblade. He jumped back and began moving towards my more heavily guarded side and charged. I dodge rolled at the last second and aimed to take his legs out from behind. He dashed forward just in time to only be grazed. Leon charged me again and again, but the heavy onslaught was easy to defend against. Finally Way to Dawn and his gunblade met in a draw.

"I'm going easy on you, you know, Leon?" I gloated. It felt good to gloat. It felt good to make myself seem better.

"Don't rub it in asshole," Leon grumbled before pushing me back and gaining the advantage.

"But you know it's true, old man," I called, grinning madly as I pushed him back several feet. The brunette withdrew his sword and dodged back out me my stumble. I recovered quickly and jumped up into the air, charging at him in a move that I had copied from Seifer when I was in Twighlight Town. I'd never personally made contact with him, but he did have some pretty good moves. Leon jumped out of my hitting range and I countered by arial jumping at him. Our blades came into rough contact again as I kept pushing him back with the force of the jump. The crowd of students watching broke out into cheers, no longer being able to withhold their amazement. When my feet hit the ground, the playing field leveled out some.

Off to the side, the door opened with an audible jingle over the roar of the students. I didn't pay much mind since it was probably Aerith. It was about time to finish this hour-long match anyway. I was starting to get sweaty and I could already see the sweat leaking through Leon's white shirt. I shifted us around until I could clearly view the door. I did not, however, see Aerith Standing there. Instead I saw a rather grumpy Cid--with an "I'm fucked" expression on his face, I might add—standing beside a familiar looking young couple. My arms went limp when I realized who they were and I found myself colliding with the floor, the gunblade pointed at my heart.

"I believe I won, Riku," Leon said, some sort of satisfaction in his words. But I didn't care. My eyes were focused on the couple standing at the door with Cid.

"S-sora…" I stuttered out at last. The last person I wanted to see, the love of my life, was standing at the door to Leon's dojo with Kairi attached to his arm. Cid certainly was fucked.


	2. The beginning Part Two

**Author's Note:** Bleh. I've been tossing up back and forth between this and my novel over the last few days, working on each when the inspiration came.

I might try to lengthen the chapters later. I plan on bringing in the other characters' POV via third person. All first person will be Riku, and most of it will be from his perspective, but after a while the other characters' view will need to be expressed but I'm absolutely horrible at 3rd person. When I do get to the other characters, though, the chapters will be all 1st person or 3rd person. I'm also looking for a beta, if anyone's interested.

Oh, and this is rated M for a reason. I'll talk about other story stuff at the end. D

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Kingdom Hearts I'd have Sephiroth and Riku walking around in naughty boy bondage outfits, but since I don't, we have to live with Riku's belly and Sephy's chest.

xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxox

Being in the same room as Sora was suffocating. I knew I must have looked like a deer in headlights. My eyes had to be the size of saucers since it was the shock of my life. I just couldn't look away. He'd gotten taller, gained a little weight- or maybe he just lost muscle mass. Kairi rested just above his shoulder height, but I didn't really care about her at the moment. My eyes were glued to Sora's.

"Riku!" Kairi finally called, breaking the silence. She pulled away from Sora and ran over to me. Se dropped down on her knees and hugged me around my neck with her death grip. "You idiot! You said you wouldn't leave again! You didn't even say goodbye!"

"Hey, I left that note, right?" I reassured as I finally hugged her back gingerly. I wasn't used to contact like this out side of Sephiroth anymore. Kairi felt so fragile in my arms.

"It's been three years, Riku. I don't think we can really accept tat anymore," Sora said. He had snuck up on us. Gently, he placed his hand on Kairi's shoulder. I felt awkward, suffocated, in the presence of these two. I left them behind because I wanted to escape, but now I was forced back in their presence. I think Leon caught on to this and interrupted our little reunion.

"Sora, Kairi, let's all catch over dinner with Aerith. We'll go get her at her apartment." Sora pulled away from Kairi and nodded. It took a little longer for Kairi to finally pull away. Leon dismissed his class and we all, minus Cid, headed to Aerith's apartment. The quiet was silent and it dragged on. Kairi and Sora gazed somewhat amazed at the city. It was amazing what could be done in five years.

When we reached Aerith's, I quietly told them to wait while I got her. After all, it was just this morning I broke the news to her that our boyfriends had run off together. I wanted to give her some decency. I knocked on the door three times before entering. I found her curled up on the couch with a large vat of half melted chocolate ice cream watching chick flics. She looked up at me surprised when I plopped down next to her.

"R-riku? Why are you here?" She asked, sitting up in a more proper position.

"Look, things just kinda got worse for me. Sora and Kairi are outside waiting for us. We're going to dinner. We want you to come." She nodded before pushing herself completely off the couch.

"Just give me five minutes." After ten minutes passed and I heard the shower start, I returned to the door and shooed them on, sending them to one of my favorite restaurants. Now feeling a little restless, I walked around the room, observing everything on the walls. There were so many pictures of Aerith and Cloud, Cloud and Leon, Cloud and Tifa, and just Cloud in general. It was… I just couldn't understand why Aerith holed up in this room if there was so much Cloud. I knew that if I had dozens of pictures of me and Sephiroth on my walls, I had torn them down this morning, same as when I disposed of the horrid sheets.

The hair dryer sounded and Aerith appeared another five minutes later. She looked infinitely better than she had earlier. Her braid was hastily done, but it didn't really matter.

"Sorry. I couldn't get the make-up to make me look better. I just really needed that shower," she apologized.

"Not at all a problem. I sent the others on when I heard the shower. Come on. If we hurry, Sora won't have eaten all the food." Aerith laughed at my joke.

"Sounds like him," she agreed. We walked in relative silence. After all, it was very awkward that both of our boyfriends had run off with each other. When we arrived at the restaurant we were lead over to the others. They ha managed to get a table in the far corner of the facility that was very out of everyone's way. Leon got up and allowed Aerith to slide into the booth, then took the middle position as I slid in third. I had no desire to sit next to Sora or Kairi. It was awkward enough.

"So, Riku," Sora finally broke the silence, "How long have you been here on Radiant Garden?"

"All three years. I've settled down here. Made a nice little life for myself."

"Oh really? What do you do now for a job?" Kairi asked.

"I work for Cid." They both nodded at me. The waitress interrupted us and silence ensued after she left. Finally, I broke it. "So what has everyone else been up to while I've been gone?"

"Mmm, well Tidus and Wakka got into collage on sorts scholarships. Selphie is just going through normal classes I suppose," Sora answered simply.

"Oh, but you'd never guess it!" Kairi began, "Tidus has a boyfriend. Claims he's bi though." I already knew all about Tidus. He and I fooled around some in high school. That was before he decided he wanted to date the cheerleaders and after I admitted my preferences to Sora. We had agreed though, that nothing about what we did would ever be repeated to another being.

"I already knew about Tidus. He was kinda obvious, you know?" I said. Something in Sora's features clicked when I said that, but Kairi went on blissfully unaware.

"So any relationships?" Sora asked, somewhat off handedly. Our food came and I waited until the waitress was gone to reply.

"Just got out of a bad one. Aerith too. We've been helping each other cope."

"Aerith, you were in a bad relationship?" Kairi blurted out, shocked.

"Oh, no. It was actually a really good one. I just had a very bad break up. Riku's really was bad though…" Aerith supplied.

"Oh, well how's Cloud? I'm looking forward to seeing him again," Sora asked.

"Cloud… is just wonderful, but he's out at the coliseum world training at the moment. He won't be back for several days," Leon answered smoothly. It was better than what I could come up with. The story would have to stick.

"Oh, I see. So what about you Leon? You have a dojo now. I never expected that one."

"What did you expect? Teaching Martial Arts is much more entertaining than being a computer expert," Leon replied.

"Yeah. And business is booming too. You saw all those students. He has about three classes that size everyday," I said. Sora placed his hand on the table for a brief moment and Kairi rest hers atop his for a moment. It was brief, but I noticed a little something that just couldn't go ignored. Staring straight at where their hands had been, I said, "Congratulations."

They looked startled that I'd say something like that. Even I was shocked at how lightly I said it too. But I knew now, for certain, there was no true room for me in Sora's heart like there was for Kairi. The silver engagement ring on Kairi's finger was enough proof of that. My throat was constricting at the thought. But I kept my mask up nonetheless. To truly love someone is to let them go.

"When's the wedding?" I finally managed to ask. Sora and Kairi exchanged a glance before turning back to face us.

"As soon as we're back on Destiny Island," Kairi responded. Leon and Aerith both gave heir congratulations, but I could tell they both said them with great reserve. It was crushing news to me and they knew it.

"So why are you here anyway?" Leon finally asked the question we had all been dreading. Sora relaxed into the booth and lifted a fork to his mouth before replying.

"King Mickey sent us a letter. He said that he wanted us to catch the next available gummy ship out. And to find you Riku. I guess we have incredible luck. We found you on the first world we look."

"I wouldn't call it looking here. The king set up a bunch of laws regulating gummyship travels. All ships have to go through Radiant Garden before going anywhere else. That way, if anything gets bad get out we, the very talented fighters here, can squash it like a bug or send it back," I informed Sora. I felt like shooting him down. Maybe it was for all the hard feelings he put me through in high school. I spilt my guts to him and goes and fucking asks Kari out the next week. It wasn't exactly the happiest few years of my life. But then again, they weren't the most miserable either. No, they were reserved for my time in Darkness.

"Oh," Sora said a bit taken aback. "Yeah. Well the King said it was urgent. I wish I'd kept my gummyship, or at least one. Cid says we can't get a flight over for another day or two."

"Yeah, sounds about right. We're pretty tight this month. A sudden boom in business. I'd take you in mine, but it's a piece of shit. Can't even fit two people." Not that I wouldn't mind trying to squeeze myself and Sora together in that nice little cockpit. And now that I though of the word, I wanted to laugh. Cockpit. Damn. The lack of Sephiroth and surplus of Sora was getting to me. I was getting giddy.

"Couldn't we modify it?" Sora asked innocently.

"I can't afford the parts," I said, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh," Sora said again, his brows knitting together. I had come from a pretty well off family and I guess he just expected me to always have just enough for what was direly needed. "Well we could-"

"Sora, you'll need it for the wedding," I cut him off before he could finish. He scowled a little more.

"How did you know what I was going to say?" he asked. Kairi wound her arm around his and leaned against him.

"It's not like I've been gone long enough to forget my best friend's personality." Sora nodded, dumbly. "So where are you staying?"

"Uh, well now that I know you're here, uhm, maybe we can stay with you? You know catch up?" Sora said, smiling sheepishly. My thoughts went down hill.

"S-sora… I don't think that'd be a good idea." I'd probably throw Kairi out on the railing and try to rape Sora if I was left with him in my apartment.

"Huh? Why not?" Kairi asked, finally rejoining the conversation.

"I just had a nasty break up last night. My apartment's trashed and there's only one bedroom," I said, matter-of-factly, even if I was lying through my teeth about my apartment being trashed.

"You can stay with me," Leon provided. Sora and Kairi nodded.

"So, Riku, what was your ex-girlfriend like?" Kairi asked. Aerith and Leon looked a little stunned at the question, and to some extent, so was I. Neither Sora nor I had told Kairi that I wasn't straight, so it was logical she assumed I was with a girl. After all, she had thought I had had feelings for her all of our life.

"Uhm, well… She was… ah… She was into BDSM." To put it lightly, anyway. It was easier to let her think I was straight than breaking the news to her that I was really lusting after her fiancé since we were kids and not her. Kairi stared blankly, but Sora's face tinted. Sora knew I wasn't with a girl.

"What's BDSM?" Kairi asked. I wanted to beat my head against the table. I looked at Aerith and Leon for help but Aerith had turned away and Leon, with a deep blush, gave me a look that said: 'no fucking way am I explaining that one.' I looked to Sora and he rolled his eyes, his blush deepening. Damn those princesses of heart and their damn clean minds. "What? Now I feel really dumb. Come on! Tell me!" Kairi complained, pouting.

"Maybe you should ask Sora to explain it sometime," I said with a smirk on my features. I wanted to smack myself for that comment. I didn't really want to think of Sora and Kairi doing that. I couldn't help but laugh though, as Sora blushed so red his nose started bleeding. From there, our conversation came easy and friendly. I felt myself falling all over again.

-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-

I dreamt. I dreamt I was sixteen again. I dreamt I was standing knee deep in the ocean, staring out at where the sky met the sea. I heard splashing, and when I turned around, I saw Sora bounding to me through the water. I held my hand out to him and smiled. I smiled a real smile. But just as he was about to take my hand, he was wrenched away from me by a tidal wave. When I surfaced, Sora was gone. He was already at the shore, with Kairi. He was kissing Kairi. I let myself sink back into the water and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, Sephiroth was standing in front of me in the darkness, his hand outstretched. But he kept moving father and farther away when I tried to grab it.

I gave up and turned away. I was back to my current age again, in the ruins of Radiant Garden. Not Hallow Bastian. The newly built Radiant Garden lay in rubble. As I walked forward, I found the keyblade in my hands. Walking farther, back into the darkness, I found Kairi. Kairi was weeping. Weeping over an unconscious Sora. She was begging me to help, but there was nothing I could do. Beyond Kairi, I saw Sephiroth again. I ran to him and this time, he drew Masamune. Before I could even react, the guard to Masamune met my chest. As I took a last shuttering breath, Sephiroth ran a hand through my hair almost affectionately, his cold eyes staring into mine, lips inches from mine.

I woke, startled and breathing hard. I felt my chest for good measure. Leon had suggested going and getting piss ass drunk after putting the 'kids' to bed last night. To forget my pain, he had said. I was starting to regret turning him down, but I was never really a drinker. I finally dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. I pulled on the first things I could find when I got out and carefully did my hair. I slathered on eyeliner and left. When I reached Cid's, he just turned me away.

"You should be with your friends. It's been too damn long," he had said. So I left without much of a fight. I went to the dojo, knowing Leon would be there. Sora was there too, but there was no Kairi in sight. I kicked off my boots when I entered. I watched for a moment. Sora and Leon were sparring.

Sora was losing miserably, though. He leapt at Leon but the older man leapt out of the way and charged Sora. The fight continued similarly until, finally, Sora collapsed panting. I chuckled as Leon tossed Sora a hi-potion.

"Looks like someone's out of practice," I called out to Sora, jokingly. Sora pouted and glared up at me.

"Well you try beating Leon! You lost to him too."

"That was a one time thing, kid," Leon called over his shoulder as he walked over to the water fountain.

"Leon's right. I normally whoop his ass. I was just so shocked to see you I kinda forgot I was in battle." Sora pouted even more.

"I don't believe you. I challenge you!" Sora exclaimed, pointing to me.

"Look Sora, if you can't beat Leon, you're going to get your ass kicked," I warned.

"Come on, Riku. A twig like you? You can't be serious, Riku," Sora teased. I sighed and stepped on the mat.

"Just because I'm a twig, Sora, doesn't mean I can't make you cry for mommy," I said, smirking. I gripped the hem of my shirt and lifted it over my head. I threw my shirt somewhere off to the side. Sora gasped at the sight. His eyes raked over me and I couldn't help but loved every second of it. "I'm one third of the reason all the girls come here, Sora. I'm in the best shape of my life."

I could tell I was intimidating Sora now. He looked away after a minute and grumbled, "You make me look really bad."

"I know. It's a little obvious you put on some weight," I joked. Sora's pout only deepened. He was so adorable when he pouted like that. "Come on," I taunted. "Prove me wrong Sora."

"Fine! I will!" the brunette huffed as he stood. He threw his shirt off and called forth the keyblade. He was right though; I did make him look bad. What used to be a nice sculpted six-pack had morphed into a simple flat stomach over the years. Because of that and his horrendous eating habits as a teen while growing, he probably had put on a good five pounds more than he should have been. But that was perfectly fine with me. He was still gorgeous.

"Now that more like it, Sora," I cheered as I called Way To Dawn. We both took ready stances and started the battle in a dual countdown like we used to when we were kids, before the door was opened. After we simultaneously yelled go, I lunged and forced him dangerously close to the edge of the arena set up. He pushed back with all his might; I could see the strain. Feeling generous, I let up and allowed him to push me back to the center. I broke away from him after a moment, first going back then circled around him. He looked around confused for a moment, but blocked. I backed off again and circled. This time I attacked from above and manage to crack him in the head.

"Ow! That hurt Riku!" Sora whined, having fallen to the floor from the force.

"I believe that constitutes as a win Sora," I said smugly.

"Damn, and just when I thought I was getting better at things than you."

"That's what you get for not practicing for five years, Sora." Sora pouted a little more and fell onto his back, arms outstretched and legs slightly apart. I don't think he ever realized what he could do to me with the simplest gestures like that. That position combined with his shirtlessness made my mind wander to things that Sephiroth always managed to stave off with Masamune. After all, it was hard to think about being in Sora when squirming under Sephiroth. I had to sit myself to prevent a certain problem that would occur from staring too long.

"I guess you were right. I really need to get back in practice," the adorable brunette breathed out.

"Mmm… So, where's Kairi?" I asked casually.

"Oh, She's off with Aerith and Yuffie, catching up."

"I'm actually surprised she's not here training with you," I said, putting my hands behind my head.

"Ah, she was anxious to get out and catch up. She thinks of Aerith as kinda a big sister. And after all, this _is_ her home world, Riku. It's only expected to want to see it." Sora shifted up on one elbow so he could look at me.

"Yeah, I guess. I'd of thought she'd had enough of this place after…" I let myself trail off not really wanting to ruin my mood even more by bringing it up.

"She never really got to see the real Radiant Garden tho- My God, Riku! What happened?" Sora's out burst was completely unexpected, but what I expected even less was the feel of his hands as they began to glide over my chest and stomach, the feeling a ghost, appearing and disappearing as they ran over the scars.

"Huh?" I asked, not fully comprehending his distress, but concentrating more on how wrong it was to want him to keep touching me while he was _engaged_ to _Kairi_.

"All these scars, Riku. They can't all be from training! It's only been three years."

"Ah, well, I told you my ex-girlfriend was into all that BDSM stuff. Especially bondage," I said off handedly.

"Riku, I'm serious," Sora said sternly as he stared hard into my eyes.

"So am I." My words came with relative ease despite the somewhat lie of it all.

"You didn't have a girlfriend, did you?"

"No. I had a boyfriend." I was afraid of what Sora would say, even though I already knew he never had a problem with my sexual preference. I always feared he would someday grow to hate me.

"This is horrible," he murmured as he stopped his wandering to let his hands trace over a particularly big scar just below the bottom of my ribcage.

"I enjoyed every second of it while it was happening, Sora." His head snapped up from looking at my chest and our eyes met.

"You liked it? This is more than just what you can get from all that bondage stuff."

"He was a really strong fighter. My equal. We trained together and our battles were bloody. Winner topped." I chuckled humorlessly at myself, a tear stinging my eye. I was pathetic. Was telling Sora the whole truth that hard? The repercussions of the truth, though, were what I really feared. "Sora, if I'm this fucked up, just imagine how my apartment looks."

"You… You really care for this guy don't you?" Sora asked cautiously, his hands moving again.

"Yeah, I guess I do," I laughed bitterly at myself, lying through my teeth yet again.

"What caused the break up?" Sora asked, trying to be comforting like he always had been in high school. I'd tell him. I'd weave an intricate web of lies, and he would never find out about my shame. He wouldn't know about my fling with the darkness.

"He… got fed up with… Gawd, Sora, please stop touching me," I almost moaned as Sora's ever-curious hands brushed a particular sensitive spot. The brunette pulled his hands away as if he'd been scalded.

"Sorry."

"No, it's ok. He was frustrated that he didn't have all of me. He was sharing my heart with someone he couldn't compete with."

"Me, right?" Sora asked, realization hitting him as he sat up straight and pulled his knees to his chest.

"Yeah… I know I should really get over you."

"It's alright, Riku. I understand, really. It's just…"

"I know. I understand. You're not like that. It's ok."

"I'm really sorry, Riku."

"Please don't be. You're really happy with Kairi. I mean, really happy. Every time you think about her you get this goofy grin and I just know what you're doing to her in your head."

"Uhg! Riku! Am I that easy to read?" Sora whined, cutely.

"Yes. And I'm happy for you."

"It's not the same without you, though."

"Then maybe we can all be happy together again, like old times." Even as I said it, I knew we could never go back. We would never be able to go back to the time when we were young and innocent and harbored our secret crushes in a safe box deep in our hearts. Sora and Kairi were in love. I loved Sora. It was impossible.

"Yeah… Maybe."

"Sora, let's not tell Kairi I'm gay, ok? Unless, of course, Yuffie or Aerith break the news to her first."

"Yeah. I don't think she'd be able to handle it very well. She was ecstatic last night over you staying with one girl for more than three weeks. So was so happy you grew out of your 'wanton and sluttish ways.' Not to mention, she didn't take Tidus' news very well."

"I'm more afraid of her accusing me of trying to steal you away. My days of doing that died out about as soon as you two started dating."

"Heh, yeah. Princess of heart or not, she does have a mean jealous streak, even if she doesn't hardly show it."

"Eew. I just realized that it smells like feet down here," I complained, sitting up. "Uhk. I bet my hair smells like feet now." I began brushing through it with my fingers as Sora began laughing hysterically at my random outburst. Before I knew it, I was laughing too.

"Riku, Sora, I just got a call from the girls. They want us to meet them at the new pizzeria down near where you live, Riku," Leon said as he came in from outside. Apparently he had slipped out sometime during the fight without us noticing, but I was glad he gave us some privacy. The tall, older brunette came over to us and pulled me to my feet first. I caught a whiff of lingering cigarette smoke and I knew he'd slipped out for a smoke. It was a nasty little habit he'd picked up from Cid, and only did it when he was stressed, much like the old coot himself. Leon let go of my hand after a moment and helped Sora to his feet before turning away and walking to the doors.

I grabbed my shirt from the sidelines as Sora began looking for his, grumbling something obscene. After a few moments we headed out and met Leon at the door, another cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Leon, since when do you smoke?" Sora asked, a little stunned.

"Since forever," he grunted and turned in the direction of my home.

-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-xo-ox-xo-

**Author's Note: **So, I'm really happy at where this is going so far. It's not really obvious yet, so I say give it until at least chapter three to give up on it. I'm usually slow to start.

I really wanted to show how close Sora and Kairi were in this story, even though I'm like the biggest Kairi hater ever and don't really like the SoKai pairing. I do respect her character, however. I've been replaying the first game, and in it Sora seems way more in love with Kairi than in the second. I'm basing them more off that, I suppose… But all of Riku is pulled from the second game.

Anyway, I'd really appreciate some feed back. I thrive off it. And I really enjoy constructive criticism.


	3. The Beginning Part Three

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Kingdom hearts, I would be rich enough to own a PS3. But since I don't own one, I guess I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Guess it belongs to those rich bastards in Japan and Disney. I bet _they_ all have PS3s.

**Author's Note:** So yeah. This is the chapter that really shows where everything is going. We finally get into the plot! Anyway, I can't really say much here. So read and Review please!! I haven't gotten one and I'm getting worried that this story really sucks.

BR BR 

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

br /br br /br Dinner had been interesting. Sora and Kairi and Yuffie were practically bouncing off the walls during the whole meal, giving me, Aerith, and Leon rather painful headaches. But I had been willing to sit through that for Sora. If I left he would have been the first to notice and the whole mood would have been ruined.

What really took the cake, though, was what happened after dinner. It was the events after dinner that were responsible for me waking up and looking around the very unfamiliar room. It was the events that were responsible for my five-minute long confusion before I realized there was another person lying in bed beside me, causing more confusion. The events were responsible when I turned over and looked at the face of the man I was in bed with and almost groaned in agony.

I pushed the covers down just enough to see that I still had my boxers on and Leon's tight leather pants still clung to his hips. It'd almost happened again. Leon stirred beside me, shifting slightly and grunting. Leon looked so different when sleeping. I would never say he looked angelic, like I knew Kairi and Sora did. No, he looked… normal. He wasn't brooding or scowling or anything else that Leon looked like awake. He was calm and content in his slumber.

Sighing softly, I snuggled into the covers and contented myself with watching Leon through my awakening headache. I could see why this kept happening, with his delicately beautiful face and more than sufficient masculinity. But everything only happened between us in those foggy moments of alcohol-induced release. When drunk we were something nice for each other, but never what the other needed; our passions usually born of a frustration with a certain blonde and spiky-haired warrior.

Last night had been different, though. While on the normal night out with Leon, we would often get drunk complaining about Cloud. Me for the fact he looked so much like Sora; Leon because Cloud wasn't sure he was gay and kept stringing Leon on. We'd get drunk and in the stupor would do many foolish things, all in the want of a release of tension.

But last night there had been others. Last night there was Sora. There was Kairi. There was Aerith and Yuffie and Cid. I could only pray that the others had managed to get Kairi so piss ass drunk that she wouldn't be able to remember me and Leon being piss ass drunk enough to feel each other up. I was one of those sad/horny drunks; I knew I'd have been all over him, if not Sora. But considering my location, I knew Leon had done a nice job of keeping me off the younger brunette and occupied with him.

After a few moments Leon groaned and peaked an eye open. He muttered something that sounded like gibberish when he saw me. I stayed quiet, just looking at him and a few moments later he tried speaking again, his voice husky and gruff, "We didn't, did we?"

"No," I breathed, my voice husky as well. "I'm not sore."

"Good. How bad's your hangover?"

"Getting there." Rubbing my temple gingerly, I turned on my back.

"You know you're going to have to take Sora and Kairi with you to go see the King, right?"

"Then why the fuck did you take us drinking?" I snapped, just barely above a whisper.

"That was all Yuffie's idea," he snapped back just as quietly.

"Oh," I murmured, defeated. "So how plastered did everyone else get?"

"I think Sora and Aerith stayed sober. Kairi and Yuffie were playing some drinking game about the time I knocked back my sixth malt and you were knocking back your fifth shot of vodka. Don't remember too much after that." I groaned lightly at the news. Now I didn't really know for sure about any of the events last night. I knew I had had at least ten shots of vodka that night, judging by the giant whole in my memory. It was a miracle I wasn't naked. I must have passed out before anything happened.

"You're no help," I whined.

"Get the fuck out of my bed," He growled, pushing playfully. "It's time to get the kids up"

"Uhg. Fiiiiiine." Pushing myself up, I scanned for my clothes around the room. After spotting them strewn across the floor I rolled off the bed and crawled to them. Leon groaned somewhere behind me and threw a pillow. I whimpered at the momentary increase of pressure in my head, but let it all go when I finally reached the clothes.

After successfully pulling my pants on without standing up (Leon had a field day snickering at the attempt, as it involved me rolling around in some of the most disturbing poses and shaking my ass around in the air—the whole thing looking like something Sora would do), Leon tossed a bottle at my head. I grimaced and turned it to see that it was hangover medication. I took some and threw it back, nodding in thanks. I was too tired and hung over to really care for my shirt for the moment and stood.

I left Leon's bedroom and headed for the large kitchen and began rummaging around in the fridge. There wasn't much, so I settled for a carton of milk and sat down at his bar island. Despite the stools being there, I doubted Leon ever ate in the kitchen. He seemed more the type to go for the bachelor TV dinner on a couch with an action movie playing.

Leon emerged from the guest room a moment later, a tired Kairi trailing behind. She yawned and held her head all at once before shrieking at the site of me. Sora promptly fell out of the room, pants half pulled up concerned over Kairi. Seeing the brunette like that, sprawled on the floor and his pants not up high enough to cover his boxers, stirred something in the pit of my stomach. I turned away, focusing back on the milk in my hand. I began chugging, not caring if anyone else wanted any.

"R-Riku!" Kairi finally stuttered, getting over the initial shock. She was pointing at me with a disturbed look on her face.

"Huh? Riku's here?" Sora echoed a moment later, scooting across the floor to better see me.

"Why are you here?" Kairi asked a bit skeptically. I paid her no heed as I continued drinking down the smooth white substance. I think Leon noticed the subtle innuendo of my drink of choice. He smirked lightly as he headed over to me and patted me on the shoulder.

"Riku was too drunk to be safe on his own, so I brought him back here. He does stupid things when drunk." I choked on my milk when he said that, noting the reference to all of the times I'd either slept with him or someone else when drunk. The white liquid dripped down my chin as I scowled at him.

"Hey, It wasn't like I was the only one so piss ass drunk they couldn't walk a straight line," I growled. Leon just shook his head, pulling a carton of eggs from the fridge.

"Riku never acted stupider than an average person when he got drunk in high school," Kairi said, still looking a little bit nervous and confused. I sighed at her naïveté.

"He was trying to prevent a suicide attempt, Kairi," I supplied after a long moment. Another lie, but only me and Leon knew. "I'm one of those sad, angsty drunks, and I did just go through that violent break-up."

"Oh," Kairi said, shrugging it off as acceptable. She turned towards Leon's guest bathroom and locked the door. Sora scrambled to get up and managed to pull his pants on all the way before disappearing back into the guest bedroom. I mourned slightly at the lost view, but steeled my emotions over. There would be no room for them today of all days.

Sora reappeared a few moments later with a fresh shirt. He took a seat beside me, and Leon began frying his eggs.

"So," Sora started, "what are we doing today?"

"I suggest filling Kairi with hangover medicine and both of you investing in some nice showers and clothes. We're going to see The King." My answer was straight to the point and Sora nodded in understanding.

"I see. Kairi got pretty trashed last night, no thanks to Yuffie. She was complaining about a headache when Leon got us up."

"Does she remember anything?"

"I don't think so. She couldn't even walk alone."

"Then I guess that's really good for me."

br /br br /br -ox-ox-ox-ox-ox- BR /BR BR /BR 

I left the bunch not long after Kairi returned from her adventures in the bathroom, whatever they may have been. I needed fresh clothes and a good shower myself. I promised to meet them at Cid's in two hours and headed off. The first thing I did upon reaching my house was throw my clothes off quickly and get in the shower. After a nice ten minute shower I stepped out and picked out the only relatively nice clothing in my closet at the moment: a semi-tight, white button down with a black and grey pinstripes that I only buttones three-quarters of the way and slightly loose dark ash colored slacks. Cid had required them for diplomatic reasons, and they were the only things suitable to wear in front of King Mickey in his court.

If my suspicions were right, however, I'd be stopping back to get a better fighting outfit and then taking Sora and Kairi shopping for themselves.

Finally I dug through the top drawer in my dresser for all of my transportation documentation. After finding it, I shoved it in my back pocket and dashed out the door. I managed to get to Cid's a good thirty minutes before the others arrived and began preparing the designated gummyship for departure. By the time the engine had warmed up and all of the systems were operational and good to go, Sora and Kairi came bounding in.

"Oh, wow, Riku!" Kairi exclaimed. "It's even bigger than Sora's!" I blanched as I poked my head out. Sora's face was beat read at the comment and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. Why did Kairi have to be so innocent? Oh, yes. She was a princess.

"Yeah, It's a cargo ship, Kairi. It's meant to carry thing, not fight, like Sora's was. I'm piloting. This one's harder to handle than the little passenger ships," I finally managed to say.

"Aw! I was looking forward to getting in the cockpit's driver's seat again." Sora, you could drive in my cockpit anytime. That stick shift of mine is just crying to be cranked and shifted to your whim, 'cause Lord knows I sure as hell wasn't an automatic kind of guy. I quickly cleared y mind after those thoughts, not needing a certain little problem.

"Come on and get in. We need to be leaving. It's at least an hour and a half through the routes you opened Sora. You should know pretty damn well that we don't need t be stalling."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Riku," Sora said, a thoughtful look on his face as he placed his hands behind his head. Kairi walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He smiled down at her a pulled her close, kissing her on the forehead. "Mmm. Come on hon."

"Alright!" Kairi said cheerfully as she leaned up and pecked Sora on the lips. She pulled away after that and headed up the boarding steps. I couldn't help but notice the way Sora's eyes followed Kairi with poorly hidden love and desire. It made me want to throw up.

Sora followed soon after. I gave his ass an appreciative glance before closing the hatch and taking my seat. It didn't take long to finish the launch procedure and we were off. I loved the feel o power piloting gave me. It was so refreshing. The only thing dampening my mood was Kairi claiming airsickness. She moaned about it for a good while until Sora distracted her. It was what he distracted her with that began to unnerve me. They were most likely making out from the wet sounds and the occasional sigh or giggle or moan or whisper.

I sighed it off as I caught sight of The Magic Kingdom. I called in requesting a place to dock and sent the ships credentials. Since the roads between worlds had been "paved", Disney Castle had gotten a lot of visitor in to see the king. Even if Chip and Dale knew the pilots they still had to receive the proper paper work. I made quick work of docking and we exited with few words exchanged.

It was funny, really, because upon our arrival Sra practically jumped Donald and Goofy. He'd cried the first time we were reunited, but he barely bat an eye this time. It was funny because no one seemed too terribly exited to see me, even if it had been three years since I'd come to Mickey with my request.

"Oh my God, guys! You've barely changed!" Sora exclaimed upon receiving their crushing hugs.

"And look at you, Sora! You're as tall as Riku now! A'hyuk!" Goofy said as he stepped back. I frowned sightly and stepped into view.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Goofy, but I grew quite a bit too." I smirked down at him in a smug but friendly matter. Donald only humphed before starting down the corridor to the palace garden.

"Come on you guys! We need to go see the king! It's urgent!"

"Oh! That's right! A'hyuk! This needs our immediate attention!" I nodded in understanding and began moving behind Donald and goofy. Sora lagged behind a little with a wide-eyed Kairi. I sighed lightly, not knowing how much more of them I could take before going crazy. It was like high school all over again.

The castle was every bit a beautiful as I remembered it, though. The perfectly sculpted shrubbery stood tall and proud. The walls were as sparkling white as ever. The guard was flawless in it's guard change. And most importantly, there was a feeling of cheer and happiness in the place that just made it impossible to frown.

"Just like I remember," Sora muttered from behind me. I smiled slightly at that. Yes, Sora had come here too, but unfortunately for different reasons that me. He was saving the universe; I was running from my life.

"Really, Sora? I can't believe it wouldn't change after so long. So it was really like this when you came here the first time?" Kairi asked. I glanced back to see them walking arm and arm, Kairi pressed close to Sora's body.

"Yeah, well, except the heartless, it's just the same, really." We moved into the castle and Kairi made a few more curious observations and we walked the short remaining distance to the throne room.

"Oh, wow!" Kairi busted out when we stopped in front of the doors. "Those doors are so huge!"

"A lot of castles have doors like that, Kairi. It gives a sense of authority and power. They really aren't that big. Look." I pointed over to Donald as he pushed the door open. Kairi ohed again as we walked through the doors. How could this girl seriously not know about these kinds of doors? She spent the early part of her life in Radiant Garden's castle! Honestly, Kairi was either very dumb or very good at acting. It was unnerving how she could be this way and still have Sora as a mate.

We began our long walk down the throne room, taking our time. People and brooms were running about, carrying papers, buckets, and other such things. Mickey was on his throne, conversing with several people, all of which looked to be his advisers.

"You're majesty, they're here! They're here!" Donald called as he finally broke into a run about three feet from the King. The crowd of advisors parted and Mickey perked up. He leapt down from his perch and ran the rest of the way to meet us, practically jumping me on sight.

"Riku! Sora, Kairi! Oh, I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice!" He said as he dropped down from my hold.

"No Problem, your Majesty," Sora said, placing hands behind his legs and leaning back, a goofy grin on his face. "We needed to visit anyway."

"Sora, we're on business. King Mickey wouldn't call us unless he thought something was wrong."

"Riku's right, Sora. Something is going horribly wrong, but let's not talk about it here. Let's go to my library."

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"So what's so important that you need e to see all three of us?" Kairi asked as she sat in one of the plush chairs in front of Mickey's desk. I had a sinking suspicion of what it was going to be, already. Sephiroth was out on a rampage. I just knew it in my gut.

"Well," the king started, folding his hands in front of him on his desk, "You see there have been a few disturbances on some worlds in the far reaches. It seems there have been some sittings of a new Keyblade Master."

"A new Keyblade Master? H-how is that possible? I thought we were the only ones," Sora said, leaning forward. He was voicing all of our thoughts. I, too, found it hard to believe that was yet another Keyblade Master.

"Kairi, summon the keyblade I gave you," I practically barked out. She looked at me, confused, for a moment before nodding and calling forth Oathkeeper. So it wasn't only a three-person deal.

"Riku, I don't think I works like that. The keyblade chooses it's own master. If there is a person with a strong enough heart in a time of danger, the keyblade will choose a new master. It was only a mater of time before another appeared. This isn't the first time, I'm sorry to say."

"This isn't the first time?" Sora asked, eyes almost bugging from his head.

"No, I'm afraid not Sora, but that's a tale for another day. The story gets worse," Mickey said gravely, staring at his desk.

"Worse? How can it get worse? How was it bad in the first place?" Kairi demanded, leaning forward and placing her hand over her breasts.

"Not all keyblade bearers are good, Kairi. I'm a prime example of that," I clarified.

"No, Riku! You were just confused for a little while! Maleficent deceived you! It wasn't your fault! We know you're not like that!" Kairi defended me. She always tried to make me feel better--she always tried to make everyone feel better—but it always hit my strings wrong.

"You don't know anything, Kairi. You never even really tried to understand anything about my time in Darkness. So don't write it off as someone else's fault. _I_ opened my heart to Darkness. _I_ destroyed our world. _I_ opened my heart to Xehanort's heartless, and _I_ pretty damn well near killed Sora over you. I'm willing to take the blame for it, so don't write it off as someone else's fault." My voice was calm through the monologue despite the biting undertone it held, but Kairi refused to back off.

"That's not true Riku!"

"Just stop, Kairi. Please. Just stop, honey," Sora barely whispered as he took Kairi's arm. He didn't look her in the eyes and I knew that he knew what I meant. Kairi would never understand. She had been either out cold or oblivious to our activities for most of our adventures and when she did join, everything was laid out for her. She had it the easiest.

"You have to work together on this. It is not the time to fight amongst yourselves. There have been sittings of men in black cloaks."

"The organization?" Sora said, finally looking up.

"Black cloaks could mean a lot of things. They could be anyone from the dark realm. The King and I both wore them during our time helping you out from the Dark Realm," I explained before Mickey could. "Besides, we defeated them all, didn't we?"

"Exactly. But it doesn't hurt to check it out. Black cloaks are rarely good signs." Mickey gave us a stern look over before speaking again, "I don't expect you to head out tonight. I think it would be good if you got some rest tonight and headed back tomorrow. You need to stock up."

"Uhg! Yes. We definitely need to take supplies with us. Last journey I started out with nothing. I swear, Leon almost killed me!"

"You're such a pansy, Sora," I chuckled.

"Hey! I thought we agreed I was better!"

"That was almost six years ago, Sora. You gained weight and loss muscle. I'm back to being the best." I began chuckling quietly to myself. Sora was pouting so cutely. So fucking cute. So god fucking damn cute that I wanted to kiss him, but Kairi beat me to it.

"Aw. It's ok Sora. You're still the best in my mind." Sora smiled up at her and pulled her back down for another kiss, this time pulling a little more than just his lips into it. Kairi giggled when she pulled away. I wanted to throw-up, but it wasn't like there was anything to throw-up anyway. Mickey looked at me with a little bit of concern.

"I hear you've been going out for quite a while, Sora, Kairi," Mickey said, drawing their attention away from each other's eyes.

"Hmmm? Oh yeah. I guess we have. Almost four years now, right dear?" Kairi said as she forced Sora to move over in his chair.

"Yeah. We're planning a wedding for when we get back to Destiny Islands."

"Oh! Well, congratulations!" Mickey said brightly as he flashed me a quick glance. I simply nodded to let him know that I was fine with it, despite how fine I really wasn't.

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Dinner had been extravagant. Even though I'd only eaten a plate and a half, I felt full and sleepy. The only thing that was really deterring me at the moment was next-door's activities.

I'd been shown my room immediately after dinner and had taken a nice long, hot shower. When I'd come out afterwards, hoping to flop on my bed and fall right asleep, I could hear Kairi giggling.

"Come on Sora!" came somewhat muffled through the wall.

"But Kairiiiiii. I'm full and I'm tired!" Sora's whining reached my ears.

"But it's the last night we might have a really nice bed in a really long time!"

"But Kai-" Sora was cut off. Kairi giggled a little then Sora piped up again, "Oh gawd! Kairi! Nngh! Stop it, Kairi! R-ri-ku's next door."

"So what? It's not like he could steal me away."

"Kai- I really don't think he'll appreciate it."

"Appreciate what? The vision of us together? I think he still likes me, Sora. All those weird stares. I want him to know that I'm all yours and will always be."

"Kairi, you don't-"

"Sora, don't even try to pretend you can ignore _that_."

There was a long pause in speech before, "Fine, Kairi. You win. Now…"

My heart clenched, and I breathed in raggedly. Kairi giggled occasionally. Every once in a while a loud moan would make it through. Then the sound of their bed beginning to creek came. I was choking. I was gagging. I was laughing. I was drowning in my own self-pity all over again, and I couldn't even bring myself to do anything to stop them. As the noises became louder, more passionate, I got up from bed and walked to the bookcase on the far side.

When the strangled cries of their climaxes reached my ears I began throwing books at the wall with all my might until the shelf was empty.

The books were destroyed. The wall was chipped. I didn't care.

All I cared about was how I could never be truly happy.

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I didn't speak to either of them the next morning. Instead of going to breakfast, I waited in the gummyship. They came out worried after me. They brought me food, but I didn't eat it. I didn't sleep at all the previous night and pushed onward. They were jumpy around me, even when we landed back in Radiant Garden. The books must have scared them. When we parted ways, I left them with two words:

"Twenty-four hours."

I walked off after that, leaving them to contend with Cid. I know not talking was childish, but I didn't have anything nice to say. It would be pointless to start something with Kairi, especially now. I entered an apartment complex and took the stairs to the penthouse apartment. I picked the locks on the door and entered, taking care to lock the door again.

I plopped down on Leon's couch. I'd wait for him, and then vent everything to him. Out of everyone on the damn little planet, he was the most useful. But it wouldn't do to interrupt his classes again. I'd wait. Patiently.

Before even an hour had past I was searching through his movie cabinet. He had about three genres: Porn, Action/Adventure, and Horror. The last two didn't surprise me but the first did. Leon and porn. It was an interesting thought, but it didn't seem to really fit his personality.

I had just selected a movie and was pushing it in the player when I heard keys in the door. I sighed and placed the movie back just Leon pushed the door open. It took about thirty seconds, but when he saw me, he glared.

"Why are you in my apartment, Riku?"

"I didn't want to go back to mine just yet. Besides, I thought I'd fill you in." Leon nodded as slammed the door shut and moved over to his couch. I sat beside him and told him everything that happened and everything that Mickey had said.

"This isn't good. Sora and Kairi aren't cut to go and fight these things yet. If the organization is back then the heartless must be swelling in Number. Not mention, Maleficent is still out there."

"And now there's Sephiroth and Cloud too. We don't know what the hell will happen from here on out. And I really don't know if I'll be able to handle spending my time with Sora and Kairi together like this," I said, cradling my head in my hands. The apocalypse had to be coming.

"Your reaction was childish, Riku."

"At least I didn't go in there and impale Kairi. I know a scared them though."

"That is true, but beating on the wall while they were still doing it could have done the job just fine."

"You don't get it Leon. I just couldn't do that."

"Fine. I understand. But you need to go out now and prepare. You have a long hard road in front of you. Things aren't going to be simple."

"When are they ever?" I asked as I stood. "I guess I'll go back now. But expect me again be fore we leave. I don't have any munny for potions."

"So you're going to just mooch off me and Aerith?"

"Yuffie too," I said, grinning. I nodded a goodbye before heading out.

"Be careful, kid. She might want to go with you." I chuckled hollowly as I closed the door. The walk home was peaceful and quiet. Perfect for me after the last five days.

As soon as I got in, I went straight to the bathroom. I grabbed a carry case and filled it with all the essentials. First were my shampoos and conditioner, plus any soap I could scrounge up. Next were the shaving cream and three razors. Then finally anything else that could fit. I packed it just as much for Kairi as for me. I knew she'd appreciate getting clean more than either Sora or I, who were just perfectly happy running around all sweaty. She would, however, have to deal with wearing the same dirty clothes for however long it took us.

I exited the bathroom, bag in hand, and entered my bedroom. I threw off my dress clothes and pulled out a pair of black semi-baggy zipper pants, not much unlike what Sora had worn when he dealt with the Organization. They were covered in zippers with six visible pockets and about ten more hidden ones. The zipped off into different lengths, making them good for any world we'd visit.

After pulling the pants on, I grabbed for a similar tri-colored shirt. The main body of it was a thick white cardigan with zippers at where the sleeves connected and continued up to cover my neck in a mandarin like collar. There was a zipper pocket just over the breast as well as up the center. The grey cardigan like sleeves met another zipper close to my elbow and the fabric continued black from there. The shirt clung to me snugly but was stretchy enough to move properly, and the sleeves could be removed in increments depending on the climate. To say the least, it was my favorite shirt to fight in.

Lastly, I grabbed a few hair ties and put them in my breast pocket before walking out of my room. There was no point in staying put now. I'd go spend the rest of the day training. I stopped walking, however, when I spotted something bright red from the corner of my eye.

I looked over and almost stopped breathing. I called forth Way To Dawn.

"Hey, heeey! What kind of way is that to treat an old friend, eh, Riku?" Axel. Axel was sitting on my couch. Legs folded, hands on knees, and smiling _on my couch_. I bulked.

"You're supposed to be dead."

"You'd be surprised at how many things that seem like they are supposed to be aren't."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here to offer you a deal, pretty boy. One I don't think you can refuse so easily."

"What is it?" I asked, shifted forward in a defensive stance.

"Oh, I'm here in peace. No need to wave that thing around. It makes me nervous you know." He was toying with me. Nonetheless, I lowered Way To Dawn.

"Just get it over with."

"Our leader would like your help. Yours. Not the brat or his little girlfriend."

"Xemnas wants my help?" I couldn't so easily believe that Xemnas would need my help, and even if he did, he would be too stubborn to ask.

"Not Xemnas. We've reorganized, so to say. Our leader wants to stay under wraps for a little longer, but I can tell you they are even stronger than Xemnas. We wouldn't follow any other way."

"So what does this leader want me to do?"

"Number One wants you to work unlock all of the different worlds' hearts."

"And why would I want to do that?" I asked, shifting my weight to one foot.

"Because One can show you Sephiroth. He's our enemy too."

"That still doesn't clarify anything." Axel stood and walked over to a small table containing pictures, several of which were of Sora.

"It will eventually."

"I highly doubt that, Axel."

"You know, he's nothing like him," Axel said, his voice dropping to something quiet and somewhat sorrowful. I knew the tone was fake. Axel couldn't feel.

"Sora?"

"Yeah. I miss Roxas. I've watched Sora, for two years now. I bet Roxas is going crazy."

"And how do you surmise that, stalker?" I bit out.

"Because," Axel started as he turned around, smirking, "Roxas is very, very gay. Even a circle is straighter than he is." I stared at him in shock for a long moment, letting it all sink in. Roxas was… gay. Roxas was Sora and Sora was Roxas. Before my thoughts could go any farther, Axel spoke again. "He made me feel like I had a heart. And so did Sora. And you…"

"Sora isn't gay."

"We want our answer in a month," he said, shaking his finger. "Got it memorized?" He asked, tapping his temple.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Good. I guess I'll see you later, pretty boy." I nodded, already lost in my own thoughts again.

Roxas was _gay_.

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**Author's Note:** so yeah. First thing that jumps out at me to explain is the Sora/Kairi scene. You know, the _one_. Anyway. I know it sounds like I'm making her a bitch, but it's not really intentional. I just think what she said was really in character. She said stuff like that in the first game. "Riku's changed." "Let's take the raft and leave, just you and me, Sora!" On top of that, she never really seemed to care that much for Riku. She also seems to do some things without thinking about the consequences.

Next is the fact that I really tried to show how close Sora and Kairi had become and how in many ways they try to shut out Riku. From all the evidence in the first game and some from the second, I can see them being like this. I honestly hate those kinds of couples.

The Leon/Riku relationship is purely fuck buddy level. It will never develop any farther.

And why aren't Donald and Goofy going? The will. Eventually. Just wait and see.


	4. Mountain

**Author's Note:** Sooooo… I had fun writing this chapter. Haha. Anyway, I've been inspired by a few weird things around here lately. Not to mention getting a nice dose of Poe in English class. I love that man's work. But yeah…

Anyway, thank you rain angst for reviewing. You make me feel a semblance of love. Sadly Axel's not in this chapter, but he will more than likely appear again next chapter. He's a big character in this story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Kingdom hearts. If I did, then it wouldn't be rated K. It'd be rated XXX.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

I didn't tell a soul about Axel. When I regained proper thought, I decided to go out and find Sora. Sora and Kairi, I guess I should say, since ever since they hooked up they became joined at the hip. Training be damned. I had to live with those two for a very long time unless I suddenly decided to take Axel up on that offer. I highly doubted I would though.

I left my apartment swiftly, gliding down the streets. I knew Sora was smart enough to high tail it out of Cid's place. The coot would have put them to work. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to keep me working even after I've left.

As I walked past a series of stores and cafes, I spotted Sora and Kairi sitting at an outdoor restaurant. They were chatting lightly. I carefully tucked my anger away as I placed a mask of calm on my face. Just seeing them again almost made me see red.

Briskly, I walked to where they were. Sora spotted me first and shrunk into himself, giving a little finger wave.

"Uh, hi, Riku. I thought we weren't going to meet up until tomorrow?" He said as I stopped right next to him.

"We were, until I thought about how we were going to have to prepare," I said nonchalantly.

"Oh, we're fine as we are. It'd be nice if we could go back to Destiny Islands though. There's some stuff I wanted to-"

"I'm not going back to Destiny Islands for as long as I can possibly avoid it," I cut off Kairi, letting a little of my masked gaze leak out at her. "I'm sure whatever you need can be bought here, anyway. I helped rebuild this place, so I can even help you find it."

"U-uh, never mind, Riku. I'll go without it," Kairi said, a blush rising on her cheeks.

"All fine and dandy with me, but you do realize that this will be a several month long journey? If something's up with the organization, I doubt we'll be back after a quick trip." I knew we weren't going to be back after a short trip. Axel was proof of that. Sephiroth was up to something after all.

"I'll go find it tonight, then. I don't need your help. It's kinda embarrassing," Kairi finally explained. I sighed.

"Look, do you guys have clothes to fight in, because those simply won't do." I motioned to Sora and Kairi. Sora was in a rather expensive looking shirt with a few belts weaving here and there and very old and worn belted pair of pants. I recognized the outfit from high school, so I knew it was old and wouldn't last. Kairi was in a very short skirt and a fairly low dipping tank top that showed off her time gained breasts with heels. The outfit was just as impractical as her pink zipper dress, if not worse.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Riku," Sora laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "These clothes won't do us any good. You know any good tailors?" I smiled down at Sora and grabbed his arm, wrenching him from his seat. I grabbed Kairi by the hand and dragged them both from the restaurant.

"I know just the place. It's where Leon, Cloud and I go when we need clothes."

"B-but Rikuuuu! My food! No! I haven't eaten!" Sora cried as he saw the waitress returning to the table with their orders. I chuckled down at him and winked at the waitress.

"Don't worry about it. We'll get something to eat later. You need clothes, _now_. Not to mention Kairi needs a rebreather in fighting."

"There is nothing wrong with my fighting!" Kairi pouted. I smirked down at her, knowingly.

"I seem to remember a certain little girl that could only knock out the weakest of heartless. Not to mention I think both you and Sora haven't trained in a few years."

"Damn. He got us, Kairi," Sora mock-pouted. I had to admit, the pout was so much more seductive when Sora did it. The way his lips curved and the way his eyes got darker. It was simply divine.

"Yeah, well, we thought we weren't going to have to fight," Kairi complained. I just laughed as I threw them at the door of a shop. It was the best clothing store in all of Radiant Garden.

The sales clerk grinned as he saw us. His long blue locks were pinned up in some intricate ponytail and his clothes were somewhat akin to preppy-sheik. "Riku, honey! You brought friends! Where did these scrumptious morsels come from?"

Sora gulped after taking in the man's appearance while Kairi just eyed him in mild disgust. She at least knew better than to openly insult the openly gay and girly men of the universe.

"Aoi-chan, it's so a pleasure to bring you business. Look, I need you to suit these two up into some fine battle gear. Don't worry about weapons; we've got that covered already. We just need clothes," I said as I shoved the two at Aoi. His grin grew wider.

"Oh, is that all? No special restrictions?" He asked, giving Sora a devilishly wicked look. The brunette shivered under the gaze.

"Ah, yes. I do have some. No dresses on Sora and a very modest outfit for Kairi. They also need to be good for all weather."

"Ah, you're no fun, Kuu-chan." Sora and Kairi stared up at me in horror, no doubt terrified of their fate. While I wasn't getting angry at them, I was still getting my revenge.

"Look, I don't care what you put on them, but I want them in something _good_ before I come back." Aoi burst into happy giggles as my friends' mouths fell open.

"You're _leaving_?" Sora squeaked out, his voice cracking much like it had in high school.

"No, I'm not. I've got some other business to attend to down here. I'll be back in maybe an hour." Sora gave me the puppy dog eyes as Kairi fought to get herself as far away from Aoi as possible. I just smiled and waved before making a mad dash for the door, Sora hot on my heals and begging. Ah, if only he'd beg for a different 'let me come with you'.

I slammed the shop door in his face, just in time for him to slam into it before Aoi grabbed his wrist and drug him back into the depths of the shop. I laughed lightly at the scene. It was so Sora.

I turned away from the shop, my face falling blank. I had to go to that little bank. It wouldn't do me any good for all of my money to just sit there while I was out adventuring. I'd withdraw it all and spend it on whatever we needed for the journey. These items were namely: Sora and Kairi's clothes and medical items. I would need more than just what I could get from my friends.

Once my business was done, I just walked around, the giant munny bags in my hands. My thoughts were drifting back to Axel and Roxas. Axel was a live, which meant that the others that we thought we'd killed weren't dead either. It completely screwed with the foundations of everything we knew. But at the same time, weren't Roxas and Namine a shocker for everyone too? Nobodies with existing somebodies. It was all too confusing.

When I finally returned to the shop forty-five minutes later, I found Sora leaning against the registrar desk. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was looking down at the ground forlornly. He looked simply stunning, though.

His long baggy pants were a splishsplash of black, blood red, midnight blue, and yellow. Straps, zippers, belts and pockets crisscrossed in every which direction, giving it a wild look that somehow fit Sora perfectly. For a top he had on zip up semi-tight shirt with a semi-tight jacket on over top, unzipped. The jacket looked like it was more meant to be worn zipped and discarded later if the need arose. There were at least four belts crossing the jacket that matched the pants. The under shirt followed a similar scheme but there were triangles that came in on the stomach, giving a sliming effect to his waist. And the finishing touch was the silver crown pendant that never left.

I smiled sadly upon seeing it. It brought up old, painful memories. Sora chose then to look up at me. His eyes brightened and he moved forward towards me.

"You're back. Finally. Kairi's in the back, getting the finishing touches put on," he said when he was a mere foot away from me.

"So was it really that bad?"

"Just as bad as I imagined it would. Seriously, why'd you leave me in the crutches of a guy like that? He couldn't keep his hands off." I frowned done at Sora.

"You know, I'm like that, too, Sora."

"No! I didn't mean that. I meant how… girly he was."

"Sure, Sora."

"I rea-" Sora was abruptly cut off as Aoi and Kairi came out.

"Ah, Sora-chan, you're darling princess awaits." The man's grin hadn't lessened at all since I'd left. When Sora turned around, he had to blink.

"Oh, my gawd, Kairi, you look amazing."

She had on a pink Chinese dress with a twist. The mandarin collar was the support of a halter dress. From the base of the clavicle, the collar opened up to reveal just enough cleavage to drive any straight man to daydream before closing, forming a diamond shape. The skirt went to her knees but a generous slit ran up each leg and leggings peeked from beneath. Her shoes were elegant sport shoes that didn't take away from the outfit one bit.

If I _were_ straight, I could see why Sora was gaping at her like a fish and getting those dirty flashes in his eyes. I wasn't straight, however, and contented myself with stealing glances at Sora's nicely outlined ass. Sora finally managed to make his legs work and went over to Kairi, pulling her into a kiss. I sighed as I made a move to Aoi.

The blunette was looking at the couple with a sad envy and I patted him on the shoulder. He turned to me and shook his head. I held out one of the bags of munny. He took it without saying a word and headed back to the register. I picked up some gloves from a rack and threw them at Sora and Kairi's heads before turning to leave.

"So, are you guys ready to leave?" I could hear a little stumbling and Kairi giggling before they finally appeared by my side, arm in arm. I sighed and walked out of the store as they follow. I headed to the closest all-in-one store that Radiant Garden had. It was a humble little shop run by moogles. As soon as we entered, we went our separate ways.

I went to the potions and such section of the small stores first, grabbing about half a dozen of any rare potions before heading over to accessories where I found Kairi. She was holding a golden charm bracelet. There were several charms that I recognized the meaning to. A heart, lightning bolt, snowflake, bell, fireball, and a star were among them.

"It's so beautiful…" she murmured.

"Then we'll get it. But only under the condition that you always wear it," I said as I came up behind her. She jumped at my voice she turned around with childlike eyes.

"Really? But why would I have to wear it all the time?"

"It's a good luck charm and an elemental ward. Sora would have a fuss if anything bad happened to you. It's expensive, but I think it'll be worth it."

"Riku, you don't have to…"

"Look, I'm going to be buying a lot here. We need what we need. Let's go prepared. And go see if you can find whatever you needed. I'll buy."

"No need," Sora piped up as he rounded the corner into the aisle. "Kairi sent me on a wild goose chase. Sorry, honey." Kairi pouted a bit at the news but nodded. I pushed the potions at Sora.

"Go take these to the moogles. Tell them to wait until I get there." Sora nodded and headed off, Kairi in tow.

As they left I grabbed what ever else I knew I could afford. I made a move to leave, but a glint caught my eye. It was a non-magical ring, but it was beautiful. A small crystal of some sort sat embedded in a thin band of gold with engraved symbols form the moogle language. I took the munny that was needed for it out of my munny bag and poketed it, along with the ring. I hurried up to the counter and placed everything there. The moogles were delighted at the business.

"Say, how 'bout you two go on? Take these back to Leon's and bring them with you tomorrow. I need to make arrangements with the moogles for when we're in other worlds. Meet me in a few hours just past the crystal fissure."

"Sure. You sure, though? Kairi and I can wait. It's not really that much trouble," Sora said, placing his hands behind his head.

"Yeah, I'm sure. You and Kairi look like you need your alone time." And I needed time to get over the shock of how amazing Sora looked in that outfit and much more amazing he'd look without it. Sora just nodded and ushered Kairi out. I turned and made the arrangements quickly. I really didn't need to, but it was always good to let the moogles know when to expect guests.

The final thing I did before leaving was pull out the ring and the munny. As I repocketed it I bitterly thought of what it meant. I would give it to Sora if I felt I was losing to the darkness rerooting in my heart.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

When I walked into the hanger the next morning, I was surprised to see Leon leaning against the gummy ship. He had on his normal leather pants, white shirt, and boots, but his jacket was long sleeved, much to my dismay. His short sleeved one always sat better with me. Despite that, his gunblade wasn't far from him, resting just in reach. Sora and Kairi were nowhere in sight.

"Why the hell are you here, Leon?" I asked as I stopped in front of him.

"I'm coming with you," He said without looking up.

"Why? You have a Dojo to run."

"I'm going to look for Cloud while helping you. You're bound to run into him at some point."

"I can't stop you, can I?"

"I'd probably just find another way."

"I guess Sora and Kairi will be up for a little surprise."

"I guess."

"They'll try to stop you, you know," I said as I moved to lean next to him.

"Sephiroth and Cloud together are not a good thing. Not to mention, the fact that Sora and Kairi suck at fighting."

"Yeah, I guess your right. They're probably sore today."

"I saw. They couldn't even touch you while teamed up."

"It comes from fighting Sephiroth for so long."

"Look, don't think about him. You need to get away from that darkness. You don't belong there," The brunet said, turning to look at me again.

"Yeah… It's hard though. I feel… torn, now that Sora's here. Torn like I was five years ago when fighting Xemnas," I sighed as I pulled away from the side of the ship. "Come on. Let's continue in the ship. We need to set everything up for the trip." Leon nodded and followed me inside.

"I know it's hard to concentrate on your light while Kairi's here. Girls can be a pain like that sometimes," Leon said. I took that to mean he got frustrated with Aerith being around just as much I did about Kairi. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the case, despite them being good friends. We were better than letting relationships get in the way of our friendships—or at least Leon was. I still needed a little work on that.

"Yeah. I honestly don't mind Kairi so much. It's just that I get the feeling she wants me to go away. Even if she does put up that act like she did at the dojo."

"Don't let her get to you. Just keep your head up. We can't afford to have a dysfunctional fighter as strong as you."

"Dysfunctional?" I laughed. "Really, I don't think I'll be _that_ bad. Now Sora and Kairi…" Leon snorted at the thought. I could just see them freaking out over every little injury to each other.

"If we split up, they aren't going together," the older brunette said, amusedly.

"Agreed," I laughed. After a good minute, I sobered up. I took my seat as pilot and began flipping switches. "But… Seriously. I don't know if I'll be able to hold on."

"Don't talk like that."

"Leon, if I do submit, it wouldn't be without thinking long and hard. You know I'll consider Sora's well being into it. If I'm gone or disappeared… I'll try to give something to Sora first. I don't want him to forget me, over everyone else."

"Riku…"

"I had thought about it the first time. I wasn't afraid of the darkness then, and I'm still not. I wanted to get off that island with Sora. But I wasn't thinking then. I won't let myself make that mistake again."

"If you go, we will all try our hardest to get you back, you know that, right?" Leon said as he finally decided to take a seat in the copilot's chair.

"I know, but we can't fight our hearts." The engine purred to life as I relaxed into my seat. Leon relaxed as well.

A good thirty minutes passed by before I really needed to do anything else. With a warmed engine, I began a full systems check of the gummyship. Just as it was finishing up a flashing message appeared on the screen. There was an incoming message. Opening a connection, I sat upright in my seat. When the picture came through clear, I almost blanched.

"Riku! Oh, I'm so glad I go a hold of you. I see Cid's got everything on the ship in working order."

"Your Majesty! Why are you calling?" I was shocked to say the least. Leon had opened his eyes from the light nap he'd fallen into and stared at the screen somewhat confused as well.

"Ah, I just wanted to check the communication lines and give you an update." Mickey was smiling his head off, standing there in his adventure clothing. I could only expect that he'd being heading out to do something himself soon too.

"I guess that makes sense. Go on. The others aren't here yet. So I'll tell them later."

"Alritghy! Well, there's been a recent rise in Heartless in the area. As you already know, they never really disappeared. I've sent Goofy and Donald out to the world around here to set up some defenses. They'll be joining you later. As for me, I'm going to go the opposite direction you are."

"Ok. I've got it. Do you have any where specific you'd like us to go?"

"Yes. I want you to go as far out as you can. I think Cid installed a warp gummy to a far off place. Start there."

"Right." I nodded in understanding.

"Oh! And one more thing, Riku!" the King said, jumping up. "Please, whatever you do, don't use any dark keyblades you find! I'm afraid they might affect you negatively like the key you wielded against Sora in Hollow Bastion. Even if Xehanort was in control, it gave him more power. We'd better play it safe. Stick with Soul Eater or Way To Dawn."

I stared at the screen for a moment before lowly nodding. In a twisted way, it made sense. "I understand." I said at length and disconnected the call. There was rummaging outside and I could hear Sora calling for me. Sora… my light…

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Sora and Kairi had fought with Leon to the bitter end about coming. I could tell that they were still a bit mad, even an hour later as we came out of warp. The lovers were holding hands in the passenger seats, murmuring to each other. Leon just cradled his head in his hand, still annoyed at the two for not understanding.

We came out in a rather empty area. I couldn't see another world, but the radar was picking up one a good twenty minutes away at normal speeds. I set course. After a good while a world appeared on the screen. I made the fast calculations and commands, and to be a little mean, I sent us to the surface of the planet.

As soon as our feet touched solid ground, Kairi screeched. I looked behind me to see that she and Sora had lost their balance and fell in the snow. Yes, snow. The air was crisp and cold. It had to be below freezing since I was already shivering, despite the nice warm material my clothing was made out of. Leon just looked away, into the snow. As Sora and Kairi struggled to stand up, I let my eyes follow Leon's.

"It's beautiful," I muttered, my breath forming a dense white cloud in the cold.

"What is?" Sora asked, coming up beside me, rubbing his ass where he fell. I simply pointed straight ahead. The younger brunette gasped when he looked and Kairi soon followed. Stretched in front of us were large, tree covered, rocky, snow-blanketed mountains. The site was breath taking.

Next my eye caught a large town nestled in the valley of the mountain were on and the one next to it. It had walls surrounding it and a castle at one end, surrounded by the mountain face. Without warning, Leon moved from beside me.

"Hey, Leon, Where're you going?" Kairi asked when she noticed. Leon pointed down to the village. I nodded and started after him.

"Come on, we need to get there before dark or we freeze our asses off. Which ever comes first. It looks like it's going to be a long haul down." I made a large sweeping motion with my hand, and the two followed without much complaint. The climb down was steep and dangerous, the rocks giving out under my feet every once in a while. I honestly wished I had the foresight to have brought rope and a stake. It would have at least secured Kairi To the rock face so Sora would stop worrying over her.

Sora had taken to directing Kairi's movements over an especially difficult area of the journey and never bothered to stop. It was getting annoying, but I wasn't one to stop him. His voice was like music to my ears. Finally Kairi seemed to have had enough and called huffed to Sora, "Sora, be quiet. I'm not blind, you know. I see just _fine_."

The young brunette sighed behind me, but stopped nonetheless. Quiet settled back down. The road grew steeper and steeper the farther we went down, but I could see it would even out again into a more gentle slope to its base. I was just placing my feet on a nice outcrop of stone large enough to comfortably stand when I heard Kairi screech and a saw a shadow flash past my head.

I snapped my head back just as Sora cried out her name and slid past him down the rock face. I quickly summoned and stabbed Way To Dawn into the rock and almost jumped off the side of the small cliff as Kairi came past. Managing to grab her hand before she slipped too far, I held onto Way To Dawn to support the weight. Kairi was heavier than she looked.

My grip was slipping and Way To Dawn was coming loose. Sora called out to Kairi again as he rushed down the rock face. The force of his landing on the rock was enough to jiggle Way To Dawn free; I lost my balance. As I fell back I could see Leon making his way back up to help, a rather frantic look on his face. Kairi screamed again, clutching my hand so hard that she was cutting off the circulation. At the last possible moment, I managed to release Way To Dawn and grasp the side of the outcrop. My fingers slipped again, though and we started falling. It was another good six or so feet before I managed to calm myself enough to summon and stab Way To Dawn into the rock face.

The movement took another three feet to affectively stop us, and Kairi slipped slightly down in my grasp. Sora was calling again after the damned bitch again. Kairi. Always Kairi. Why was I even saving her again? I began looking around for a place to shed Kairi off safely. There was a ledge just large enough to crouch on at my wrist. I looked down at the red head, now gripping my arm with both her hands.

"There's a ledge here, Kairi. I'll lift you as far as I can, then your going to have to climb up me to get to it," I said, somewhat strained. The red head looked at me with large fearful eyes.

"But what about you?" she managed.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of my self." She nodded. Slowly, I pulled her up to my stomach level. She quickly discarded my arm in favor for the trunk of my body. After reaching my hand up to better my grip on the keyblade, she began to slowly pull herself up. When she was high enough, she gripped my hands on the keyblade and on the ledge. After successfully pulling her upper body onto the ledge, she pushed her feet off the keyblade.

None of this was helping me any. I had scraped my fingers somewhere in the fall and the pressure Kairi was putting on them weren't helping any. As soon as she pushed off and was safely on the ledge, I released my grip and fell. Kairi screamed my name, but it barely registered as I stabbed Way to dawn into the rock face again and pushed my self forward. Using the momentum, I ran vertically up the face. When my footing began to slip I stabbed Way To Dawn into the face again and used it as a spring to the nearest ledge.

I noticed for the first time that my fingers were slick with blood as I hung from the ledge. I made quick work of pulling myself up. Safely standing on rock again, I cursed. My fingers had been cut up by the rocks that I had been grabbing at in the fall. It didn't help much that some areas had already been scrapped up from climbing down with all appendages. I quickly cast cure on myself.

"Kairi! Kairi!" Sora called as he slid past me down to where Kairi was, Kingdom Key dragging in the rock behind him to slow him down. Kairi. It was always Kairi. Kairi always out shone me. I could hear Leon calling out to me distantly, but I didn't care. All I could focus on was Sora as he stopped by Kairi and pulled her into a tight embrace, shaking with adrenaline. Kairi. Always Kairi. The site tempted me to jump to my bloody death to see if it would catch his attention. Maybe I should have just let her drop?

No. Kairi was his light and I was…

I was Sora's dark. I balanced him, but that didn't mean that he necessarily needed me near like Kairi.

I snapped my head up to Leon. "Leon, meet them. I'm going to go ahead. I'm sensing something off." What I said wasn't exactly off. I could have sworn that a heartless was what had passed by when Kairi fell. Hell I could _feel_ the heartless now. The feeling was becoming stronger. But how could I feel them? I was dipping back into darkness. My feet were already wet and I'm sure there was more to come. Those thoughts were enough to make me susceptible to them.

I jumped off the ledge and allowed myself to fall down. A cliff came rather suddenly in view along with a tree line. I was expecting them though, and stabbed my keyblade into the stone. I still fell, but slowed considerably. After I stopped, I was only a few feet from the ground. I let myself drop to the ground.

Looking back up the mountain, I could see that the cliff face was at least seventy feet. We were damn near the top of the mountain when we landed and were now almost a quarter of the way down. From here on out it was going to be a relatively easy journey, though.

Suddenly a rustling behind me started up. There were squirming movements behind me and I _knew_ it was the heartless. Strong heartless at that. Before I could even turn around, they were lunging at me. I managed to strike the first one in mid turn and it dissolved against my blade. I locked with a second as a third and forth clawed at my stomach. Cringing slightly, I knocked the second away and stabbed into the third, making it dissolve and release its captive heart.

Slicing off the forth, I finally managed to get a good look at the first. They were small little thing, looking not much unlike a large house cat. Its ears were large and it had golden yellow saber fangs and large golden yellow claws. The tail was long and thin, splitting into three half way down, each ending in barbs. A large heartless symbol adorned its face.

It lunged at me again and I swiftly cut through it like butter. The released heart drifted lazily up for a moment before disappearing. I knew there were more in the immediate vicinity. My suspicions were confirmed when about a dozen more of the same creature came forth. They all fell fast to my blade. No heartless was a match for me after training so long with Sephiroth. I began to roam the immediate area and rid it of the heartless while waiting for the others to come down.

Sora, Leon and Kairi were visible when I returned to the base of the cliff. Kairi's legs seemed to be rather scratched up. It didn't surprise me much, though. "Kairi, come over here," I said when she was on the ground.

"Why? What are you going to do?" she asked as she came near. As much as I wanted to leave her in pain, I knew it wasn't right. Not to mention, it would make Sora smile.

"I'm going to heal those wounds. They'll only slow us down, untreated." She nodded as I bent down and cast cure on her legs. When I stood back up, the red head pulled me into a giant bear hug.

"Thank you, Riku! Thank you so much! I could have died!" She cried out into my chest. I could feel a few tears wet my shirt.

"Come on, Kairi. Let's not cry. It'd be a shame if your face got frostbitten." Kairi sniffled before pulling away. As soon as she did, Sora took her place and I found myself lying in a foot of snow.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I really don't know what I would have done of I'd lost her," Sora whispered into my ear. After a moment I pushed him off harshly.

"Sora, don't…" I whispered harshly before it dawned on him that it wasn't good to rub his straight status in my face. He quickly removed himself from me and brushed himself off. Leon came from practically nowhere and spoke, scaring Sora back onto the ground.

"We should get moving. We still have a long way to that village." Kairi giggled a little as she helped Sora back to his feet.

"There are strong heartless here. They aren't much of a problem for me, but I'm concerned about you," I said, nodding to Sora and Kairi.

"Riku, I'm not that weak," Sora pouted. I frowned at him.

"Fine. You fight the next one we encounter and tell me other wise." Sore pouted even more.

"Alright, fine! I will!" he pouted. I sighed and just started walking through the woods again.

Leon came up beside me, not making any attempt to have a conversation. It was almost annoying since Sora and Kairi were once again murmuring back and forth. Did the two ever run out of things to talk about? Did they ever just have quiet time? I bet there was very little of it. I sighed irritated. Leon looked at me concerned. I could feel those dark energies swelling little by little, rising higher and higher.

The tide was coming in.

Sora cried out. Upon turning I saw that he was being attacked by heartless. Just as I was about to step forward and slay them, I stopped and remembered Sora's bluff. Instead, I moved to get Kairi out of the way. Taking her by the hand, I jerked her from the circle Sora was standing in.

There were three catlike heartless circling Sora. The rest of us be damned. It seemed they only cared for him. Did I…? Nonetheless, they jerked forward and Sora tried to block them. He managed to throw off the first but not without a nice scratch along his arm. He couldn't block the second or third, however. They dug deeply into the brunette's side and back, blood leaking down. Sora managed to throw them off but couldn't keep them off.

Kairi screamed. I swear, she screamed too much. She began tugging on my sleeve, chanting, "Oh, my gawd, Riku! Help him!"

I just shook my head as Sora managed to kill the first heartless in under thirty slashes, getting badly injured in the process. Finally, as one made to grab his heart from behind, did I make my move. In one swift, graceful movement I destroyed them both. Sora stared up in awe at me. The blood dripped just the right way down his face to cause an unwanted tightening in my pants. I quickly looked away.

Damn masochism.

Before Sora was even on his feet and could say something, I'd cured him. I began walking away, not waiting to hear what he said. I didn't want to hear it. It wasn't long before I'd left the others far behind. For some reason I was angry. For some reason I felt guilty. For some reason I felt so damn alone and betrayed. Any heartless that dared to get near was vanquished. I knew they were fearful. I knew they were avoiding me.

I called them forth. I brought a hoard, maybe as many as a hundred, to me. And I destroyed them. The fact that there were already that many heartless here distressed me even more. Heartless, heartless, everywhere. I wouldn't become one.

When the last one was gone I had made it to the cliff face before the village. I'd come a long way alone. Finding it useless to go back up the mountain, I sat on the ledge and waited. And waited. And waited.

An hour passed and the sun was sinking down. The mountains disappeared beyond the village, falling to rolling hills for as far as I could see. It seemed that only military forces were leaving and entering the city.

"I think we're stuck in the middle of a war zone," I said when I sensed the others getting closer.

"A war zone, huh?" Leon.

"Well then, I guess we better not get caught up in it then." Sora.

"I think we should split up at the gates. One group going in and the other continuing farther down the mountains. There's a road. I can see it."

"S-split up? Is that really wise?" Kairi.

"I think it would be best. If they are deploying armies then they must be getting ready to fight against someone. I doubt it's the heartless, but I think that's why there are so many of them around here," I said, finally standing.

"So, what are our groups?" Sora asked as he came up next to me.

"Kairi and Leon should continue traveling. Sora, come with me to the city. I think it's a capital. This way, if we get caught by the guard, Kairi won't be in danger and she'll have a good body guard."

"I'm not that weak, Riku! I don't need protecting!" Kairi practically screeched.

"This coming from the girl that begged _me_ to save her fiancé instead of doing it herself," I bit. That successfully shut her up. "Come on, let's get going."

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Author's Note: My favorite scene was making Kairi fall off the cliff. While I do respect her, I loathe her. Do not expect Kairi to have a nice time in this story.

Ten brownies to anyone who can guess the world. It's not Disney. I'm going to stall for a little while with a few other Square Enix worlds before I go into some of the other Disney worlds. Other than that… I don't really have anything to say.


	5. Airyglyph

**Author's note:** First thing first, to explain the way power level distance is… Sora's some where in the level 5-10 range and Kairi's about level 1. Leon's around level 40 and Riku is over level 65… The heartless on this world are around level 30, the beasts are around Sora's level. Second, I figured out I can't edit! It makes me mad…. Oh well. Thankies to Is-Simple for reviewing! Much love!

**Disclaimer:** Oh my gawd. If I owned it, I wouldn't be here, now would I?

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

We split up when we came to a road. Kairi and Leon when away from the city and Sora and I towards. It wasn't, however, without a good bit of complaining and an extremely romantic moment between Sora and Kairi. I wanted so badly to just grab Sora and kiss him a minute for every time that he and Kairi had kissed in that day alone. We'd both die, but that was beside the point. I wanted Sora and I wanted my Sora at that moment. But I knew it wasn't going to happen.

When we neared the village there was a large swelling of creatures that weren't heartless. They appeared to be the natural beasts of the world. Every once in a while I would spot a heartless, but they steered clear in favor of the more vulnerable beasts. One or two of the wolf-like creatures attempted to attack us, but they stood no chance against the keyblade.

Thinking up a quick plan, I summoned one of the near by heartless to us. Sora jumped back on the defensive when he saw it coming, but I welcomed it. Drawing it closer, I pet it before scooping it up in my arms.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked shakily. I looked at him through slightly closed eyes. "How are you doing that?"

"Sora… I was never exactly a strict member of the light after returning to the islands. I've been able to control heartless again for years," I half bit back. It was wrong to get mad at him. Really it was. He hadn't been with me for three years. Of course he wouldn't know.

"Oh… Well that still doesn't explain why you're picking one up like some house cat." That adorable pout was back on his face again. A smirk fought its way onto my face, despite my efforts to squash it.

"We'll be using this as our excuse to get in. We're bounty hunters now. We kill heartless. We should be able to get into the castle this way."

"Bounty hunters? Isn't that kind of cliché, Riku? I mean it's in like all of the novels." Sora was teasing me. Great. Just what I needed.

"Shut up. This world looks to be around sixteenth or seventeenth century technology at best. I'm willing to bet that bounty hunters are an all too common thing."

"Fine, you win, mister bounty hunter." It was me pouting now.

"Come on. The sun is going down and I don't want to spend the night under the stars with you."

"Huh? Why not? Don't you still like me? I mean, as-"

"Yes, I still like you Sora. That is why I don't want to sleep under the stars with you. I'll get ideas."

"I-I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright. It's nothing. I've just got to learn to deal with it again Sora. I've been doing good this time. Hell, Kairi's still fooled."

"Kairi's easy to fool," Sora said bitterly.

"So are you. You two are perfect for each other. I'm not going to get in the way of that."

"So you really think it's a fairy tale romance?" The smaller boy placed his hand on my shoulder but pulled it away a second later, as if burned.

"No, I don't, Sora. I don't. I know no relationship is perfect. But I know you two are happy together. I will protect that all my life."

"You dumbass. I don't need protecting."

"So you say now." The water was rising. I sunk a little deeper. "But what would you do if you couldn't have found me?"

"I would have continued on like I did six years ago," Sora answered hotly.

I just huffed, not wanting to continue the conversation. It was getting childish. And even though I was being childish, I knew that if it continued it'd only get worse. I finally began moving forward, Sora somewhere behind me. The heartless in my arms squirmed a little before out right trying to escape to what I guess looked like a good heart. I sighed and tapped it warningly. It quieted in my hold, deciding to snuggle into my chest, its head next to my heart. It was a dangerous place for it to be. Somehow, though, I think it knew not to try anything. They were pure instincts after all.

After a good hour we finally made it near enough to the village walls that the activities of the soldiers passing the gates. Getting a good look at them, some were traveling my foot, others on a horse like creatures, an then… Then there were the men mounted on what looked like… dragons? Well, it wouldn't be my first encounter with the creatures, but it definitely would be the first encounter with this variety. They weren't like the dragons from the Land of the Dragons. They seemed different.

Sora peered over my shoulder at the soldiers. His beautiful sea pools widened when they fell upon the dragon riders. A small gasp escaped his lips, almost too small to be heard. I couldn't help but chuckle at the site. Those perfect lips open ever so slightly; those eyes so wide and innocent. Damn, he was just so molestable at the moment.

"I wanna ride one!" he whispered excitedly. Me, being the wonderfully sex deprived male I was, (getting laid by Sephiroth as much as I did makes five days without sex seem like an eternity) my mind went straight into the gutter. I chuckled a bit at the thought. Ride a dragon or one of those tin men? Because heaven knows I'd be contented with Sora riding me at the very least. But I'd preferably be riding _him_.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Sora pouted.

"Nothing, nothing," I said shaking my head to knock the thoughts away. It didn't work though. Sora's lips looked perfect with the bottom lip jutting out slightly. I wanted to kiss him. After not getting anymore out of me he turned away and the spell was broken.

"Come on, Riku, we should get going. Think we can take them if the plan doesn't work?"

"Sora, I know we can. They're in suits of armor. We can out maneuver them. We have the advantage."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." We nodded to each other and I dropped the heartless in my arms to the ground. Before it could get away I swiped it up by the main tail and took to carrying it that way. Sora looked at me strangely, but I didn't mind. The heartless squirmed just like I wanted.

It took less than five minutes to approach the soldiers. The warriors that guarded the bridge to the village were mounted on dragons. They turned their heads to us, but I couldn't really tell their expressions. The metal visors were down, probably to help keep the warmth in.

"What business do you have?" one spat rudely. "Especially with one of those hell creatures!"

"We're here as a saving grace. You guys are having trouble killing them, aren't you? They're multiplying and people are disappearing, correct?" I said, nonchalantly. I would have them in the palm of my hand in no time.

"Yes, these creatures are a nusence, but what does that have to do with you?" It was the other guard this time.

"You see, my friend and I are hunters of these creatures. We can kill more of them in a day than you could ever hope to in a year."

"How can we believe you? You're both so young," the first guard demanded.

"You want a demonstration?" I dropped the heartless to the ground and before it could escape I had stabbed Way To Dawn through it back. The ensnared heart floated lazily before disappearing. The men were quiet. "If you want a better demonstration of skill, take me to the highest ranking person in this place that will see us."

"It's hard to believe. Do you reckon he's as strong as Lord Albel?" The first said, looking towards the second.

"I say we take them to the castle. Let the king decide." So we were at the royal city of this country? Interesting. The first guard called upon a soldier that was near the bride.

"Take these men to the castle. They're here to see the King."

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

The city was a warm but bleak and dreary place. I couldn't exactly call it a village anymore either. It was an outright city, I supposed. It had maybe three or so hundred people, which was remarkable for the landscape. It was frigid outside and the people seemed to be the same to us, but I could feel the passion in them towards each other. No wonder the heartless were drawn.

The castle, though, was something else entirely. Unlike the town, it felt cozy and lived in. I suppose it was, but that was beside the point. Sora was gaping at the number of people wandering around doing different tasks and staring at the walls. This behavior irked me some, though. After all, he had been to Disney castle and Hollow Bastion's castle before. It wasn't anything new.

We forced to wait a few minutes at the entrance before we were lead up a flight of stairs and through a large open room. At the end sat a man on a throne in thick robes, a knight on either side. It was strange seeing a king like this. I was so much more used to Mickey's throne or the emperor's throne. This king was so… simple. I stepped up after a moment, and bowed to the king.

"What is it that you would like to speak to me about?" he asked.

"Your majesty, we've come to offer our aide in the fight against the heartless."

"The heartless? Is that what you call those new black monsters?" The king asked, sitting forward in his throne.

"Yes. We do. We can help decrease their number significantly."

"How do I know I can believe you?" Sora, who was standing a little behind me stepped up and spoke before I could.

"Your highness, if you wish to test our abilities then gather your military leaders and have them watch us fight the heartless." Sora was being bold. It was true that he'd gained more experience as we traveled on. But I doubted he'd put much dent into the heartless forces. Then again, experience helped.

"I believe that is a wise idea as well. I'm no stranger to battle either. I will take your assistance only after judging with our own eyes."

"We won't disappoint you," I said, bowing once more.

"It aught be fun watching the fools flounder," a snide voice broke in from behind us. "When they fail, shall I fish them out? Or maybe we should let these liers die by those maggots?"

I turned halfway around to see a man not much older than Sora and I. Out of everyone that I'd seen in this world, he was the unworldliest. His appearance made him look like somewhat of an oddball. The roots of his hair were a deep, almost black, brown but faded to blonde by the tips of his bangs. Behind him trailed two hair ornaments that ended around his mid-thigh. They were tightly wrapped attachments, or so I thought until I saw the blonde tufts of hair coming from the end.

His clothing seemed completely ridiculous for the weather. His shirt looked like purple spandex and clung to his chest invitingly, ending at his rib cage. The third most surprising thing about the man was the skirt that hung on his hips. It was almost lude, beginning well below his belly button. The purple material went to mid-calf and had a slit all the way up his left leg. The skirt was held up by a yellow piece of fabric with red string going around for support, giving it a more eastern look. He had thigh high purple stocking and deltoid high gloves. Heavy grey boots adorned his feet. On his neck was a large prisoner's collar with three links from the chain. He also had shoulder armor.

The armor led to the second most shocking thing about the man. His entire left arm was encased in armor with a deadly looking claw covering his hand. Whether it was because of a hideous disfigurement or the claw was his weapon of choice, I couldn't tell. All I could tell was that it was very intimidating.

He was tall, lanky, and almost anorexically thin, yet somehow he was also very muscular. His facial features were sharp and soft at the same time, almost feminine. The most shocking thing about him, though, were his cold blood red eyes. I felt as if he was staring straight into my soul. They reminded me of Xehanort's.

"Ah, Albel, I was just about to send for you," the king spoke to the man. So this was the lord Albel that those soldiers were talking about. From the corner of my eye I could see Sora turning away from the site. I, on the other hand, wanted to keep staring. If I wasn't infatuated with Sora, I might have tired to hit on him. Then again, he gave off that kind of aura that you don't flirt with.

"I have more important things to do than watch a bunch of worthless worms practically commit suicide. They look completely pathetic," Albel practically snarled.

"I don't think you are one to talk, Albel. You are young and relatively inexperienced yourself." Albel did little more than huff. The king motioned for one of the knights to leave his side, no doubt to get the other military leaders. "This is Albel Nox, leader of the Black Brigade and the strongest swordsman in all of Airyglyph. He has been fighting these heartless. He is one of the few warriors that we have that can destroy them."

"He is also known for being exceptionally cruel," a new voice came from behind. I turned to see an old man walking up to us from the opposite side of the room that Albel had entered. He was at least in his late sixties and his clothing was thankfully much more decent and weather friendly.

"Shut up old man," Albel spat before turning away. The rather intimidating man picked a wall and leaned back against it, glaring at Sora and I.

"Do not mind him. But what strange visitors do we have here? You say you can defeat those monsters?" He asked, coming closer to Sora and examining him.

"Uh, yes sir. We can," Sora said, nervously. My eyes were wandering back over to Albel. That damned skirt revealing that nice milky and strong thigh was beginning to make my mind wander to what I could see if I watched him battle. What would he be like in battle? What would it be like with our swords clashing and our battle going too far out of hand to where we were wrestling on the ground? Would that claw bring the same satisfaction as Masamune? Could he bring that masochistic pleasure that I so craved? What would that lithe little body feel like?

Damn, I needed to get my head out of the gutter. I didn't even know if this Albel guy was gay. Then again, how many straight men wore skirts?

"I am Woltar, Commander of the Storm Brigade, the mounted forces," he said to us, then turned to the king. "I'm afraid that Lord Vox will be unable to join us. He is dealing with a disturbance of the dragons in the Barr Mountains. We are afraid Crossel is becoming agitated."

"What a shame. Shall we go then? I have better things to do than stand here all day." Albel said. The king shot Albel a somewhat dirty look before rising from his throne.

"Very well. Let us go to the Traum Mountain Path."

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Albel was standing away from the group, leaned against a rock face. Woltar and King Airyglyph (as we learned to call him) stood together. Sora and I were surrounded by a large number of those catlike heartless. After a good stare down, we both launched at our group of enemies.

With grace and elegance I destroyed each of mine in one blow like I had before. Sora struggled some at first, but after the first few, he picked up the pace and was defeating them with greater ease. I took my eyes off Sora for a moment to gauge the reaction of our observers. Albel was looking on in reserved shock, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. When our eyes met, he shut his mouth tight and his scowl crept back. Woltar and the king were a little more open with their surprise.

Sora gasped loudly, and my head snapped to him. One of the heartless had managed to sneak behind him and left a large gash on his lower back. Without even thinking, I lifted my arm and called his name, curing his would. He looked back at me with a grateful smile before slashing down the last two heartless.

"Impossible!" Albel shouted, pushing off the rock face and storming over to us. The man was no longer masking his surprise, but it was now mixed with outrage. "You're a spy from Aquaria aren't you?"

"Aquaria?" I stuttered out as Albel grabbed the front of my shirt. He was my height and it was unnerving.

"You're one of those quivering worms! That was runology. Where are they?" Before I could really register what was going on, I was pressed against rock and the scary hot man was practically ripping my clothes off. The feel of the calloused right hand and the cold metal of the claw as it carelessly scratched up my torso and arms was enough to send chills up my spine. When he couldn't find what he wanted he wanted he headed for the button on my pants I could swear I heard him mutter, "Damn pants. Always so hard to remove. Worthless things."

Before he could even get there, though, Sora was wrestling Albel off me. They wrestled for a good long moment (I stared, liking to think they were fighting over me for different reasons) before Albel slapped Sora away with his claw in a huff. He pulled away from me and straightened himself out. I was still somewhat dumbfounded, a blush having risen on my face. Thank god it was already flushed from the cold.

I looked over to Sora, who was still on his ass in the snow. There was blood dripping from three nice gashes on his cheek. I lost it. How _dare_ that man touch _my_ Sora's face. I lunged forward at Albel. Punching him square in the face.

"Worm!" he cried as he staggered back. Distantly I could hear groaning and complaining. "You're asking to die!"

"As if you could kill me!"

"Is that a challenge, worm?" Albel said as he smirked. He drew his katana and leaned forward in an offensive position.

"Hell yes." I called forth Way To Dawn and we both crashed towards each other. Our blades met, even in power. We pushed off and met again, always with equal power. We were both holding back. He leapt away after a moment and placed the tip of his sword to the ground. As I neared for another attack he swirled and wind like force caught me, slicing a few nice cuts into my face and chest. I leapt back and called, "Alright then, let's play dirty."

I jumped as high as I possibly could, slashing Way To Dawn, sending an energy wave crashing down at Albel. The lithe warrior dodged backward, but I continued to slash until my feet touched the ground. Albel came at me, and our blades locked again for a brief second. He pulled back, and before I could block, he had his claws in my arm, tearing the flesh.

"Finally, an opponent worth my time," Albel said, a wicked grin growing on his face. I jerked away from him, only succeeding in tearing the wounds wider. I called upon the dark energies that were thick in the air, calling forth dark flames when Sora's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Riku!" he called shrilly. I snapped my head to look at him. His features were twisted with something I hadn't seen since that fateful day in Hallow Bastion. Fear? Disgust? I felt the waters creeping ever higher.

There was a sudden searing pain in my stomach, and Sora's eyes went wide in horror. Stumbling back, I faced Albel. His katana was dripping flesh blood. My blood.

"Fool," was all he said before he lunged forward again. I moved to block, but before he could even get remotely close enough to be dangerous, flames burst between us. I jumped back, weary of the flames.

"Well, Well. Isn't this cute? Looks like Riku can't keep that hot head of his under control. Well, it was only a matter of time…" a very familiar nasally voice called out, teasing me. Damn him. When I got my hands on him he was going to feel pain. I moved further from the wall of flames and closer to the Woltar and the king.

"What is going on?" the king demanded.

"Leave, now. Go back into the city. It's not safe here. This man, Axel is nothing but trouble. I'll explain later, I promise. Just go." Woltar looked deeply into my eyes before grabbing the king's hand and pulling him away. When I turned back to Sora and Albel, the field was swamped with dusks. Yes, this was definitely Axel. Albel was looking around, confused and even more angered than before.

"What is this nonsense?" he called before going slash happy on the dusks. Sora managed to connect eyes with me and we both headed into meet each other, whacking off Dusks as we went.

"Sor-aaaaa!" Axel called. My gaze left Sora's for a moment, searching for Axel's whereabouts. The fire nymph was standing on a rock ledge, leaning back casually. His hood was up, but I knew we made eye contact, nonetheless. He leaned forward before disappearing in a bout of flames and reappearing right in front of Sora. The Nobody removed his hood and stared cheekily down at the brunette.

"A-axel?" Sora stuttered. "How are you here? I say you die with my own eyes!"

"A lot of things aren't as the appear they should be, So-ra. I think it's a little lesson you need to mem-o-rize. Got it?" He leaned over Sora (which really wasn't leaning so much anymore as Sora had grown a good four or five inches) and tapped his temple with his index finger.

"What do you want, Axel?" I spat. It did not bode well with him here, harassing Sora like he was.

"As much fun as teasing you is, Riku, I'm not here for shits and giggles. I'm here to collect on a certain little nobody."

"You mean Roxas," Sora said, voice blank, but his eyes told all.

"Exactly." Axel's smirk grew wider as he summoned his chakrams. I started towards them but before I could, flames spouted from the ground forming an impassible barrier as axel cried, "Oh, Roxy, baby!"

I cursed as I made my way over. I would not let the walls of flames bar me. I pounded at the barrier, not caring that my hands were being burned, not caring about the fate of this world. All I cared abhor was Sora and his safety. Axel would not take him from me.

"You know that man in the black cloak?" Albel asked, coming to my side. Blood was oozing from the injuries he received from the Dusks.

"You could call him an old enemy," I grunted, not relenting. Abel stared at me for a moment before attempting to penetrate the flames with his claw.

"I think I heard once that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. I would rather not trust you but you can defeat those things much easier than I ever could," the warrior grumbled, then hissed as he pulled the arm back. "Blasted flames are too thick and hot to be bearable."

"Then fuck going in the hard way," I almost snapped. I stepped back and cast Blizzaga as many times as I could in rapid succession on the flames. It did little but make them fade for a moment—just long enough for me to see Sora blocking and attack from Axel. The gap closed and I cursed again.

"Fool. Petty runology won't do you any good."

"I have no fucking clue what you're talking about. It's not runology." Albel scoffed at me before turning back to the flames. He spread his legs apart to gain proper balance and brought his claw arm back.

"Palm of Destruction!" he yelled as the claw began glowing and he slammed it into the flames. "Go!" he continued after the flames parted and stayed that way. I took the chance and ran into the battlefield. Albel collapsed and the opening closed. Axel had knocked Sora to the ground and was standing over him, only on chakram in hand.

"Sora!" I called, getting both of their attention. The redhead only glared at me before backing off Sora.

"Well, Sora, looks like you got off easy today. I'm not in the mood to tangle Riku. He's no fun." Axel shrugged and a dark portal opened behind him. He stepped back as I rushed him, only to miss the portal.

"Damn it!" I cried as I fell to my knees and punched the ground. The flames disappeared, but I didn't care.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

It was after dark when we returned to the castle. I was exhausted and irritable, but I had a duty to carry out before anything else. Sora and I had to explain to these people what was going on. They'd seen too much to be left to their affairs with the heartless too much longer. The whole world would go under soon enough. And to make it all worse, Sora refused to talk to me.

We were ushered into a long but cramped room. It was unnerving for my arm to brush against Sora's and not having any room to scoot the chair back. Albel was relatively slouched down in his, glaring at me over crossed arms. He and I were both sporting crusted blood and it wasn't pleasant. The king was at the head of the Table and Woltar was across from Sora.

"You have certainly proved your ability but have managed to leave many questions in your wake," the king started. "Where did you pull those strange weapons from?" So that's why they were shocked at first. Puling a keyblade out of nowhere just seemed completely normal to me after so long.

"Um, the weapons we use are called keyblades. They're pretty much exactly like they sound. A key and a blade. We can lock or unlock anything with out blades," Sora said.

"That even goes for human hearts. It's one thing that can make a heartless. I've done it before, under a less sane state of mind, but those days are behind now," I added.

"And what exactly are these heartless?" the king asked next.

"Heartless are being that have lost their heart—their emotional heart, not their physical heart. They are beings of pure darkness that survive off instincts and only care about collecting and devouring hearts. That hooded man and those white creatures were not heartless, the creature, but they are heartless," I answered.

"Stop speaking in riddles, worm," Albel snapped.

"When a person has an exceptionally strong heart and they become a heartless, a thing known as a Nobody is formed from the person's remaining body. No one really knows the full workings of it."

"Is it because of these heartless and Nobodies that you've come to our country?" the king inquired.

"More like your world," Sora said before I could. "Every world was a heart and there are as many worlds as there are stars in the sky. The heartless want to devour that heart. When that happens, the world is destroyed. We've come to seal the door to the heart of your world and set everything right again."

"Or, that's what we think anyway. The cloaked man still holds on to his personality. He thinks like we do. In fact, the only difference between him and us is that he doesn't have a heart. Not to mention there may be many other forces that can factor in. We know to little to say anything for sure." I shifted slightly in the chair to get comfortable. Woltar had a rather thoughtful look on his face.

"Your highness, after hearing this, I believe that boy wasn't lying when he said he was from another world," the old man finally said.

"I still don't want to trust them," Albel grumbled.

"I think you may be right, Woltar. It's too bad that he was abducted from our dungeons about a week ago. I can't imagine the pain he's probably going through."

"There's another off-worlder here?" Sora blurted.

"Yes. He dropped from the sky about a week and a half ago, leaving a huge crater. We thought he was a spy from Aquaria, our enemy. We are a starving and hard-pressed people with little farmland. We are pushing for more land," The king replied.

"A few days after we imprisoned the boy, he was broken out by a spy. We've heard news that they'd made it across the boarders and at least as far as the trading city of Peterny," Woltar finished for the king. "We have heard that they are going to go into our mines to try and steal some our ore for a weapon. Perhaps you can go with Albel and intercede them. Maybe the boy will be among them."

"I don't think it's a good idea for us to get involved in your war," I said, slumping down into a position much like Albel's.

"We did send Kairi and Leon down the road the opposite way we went, though. Maybe we'll meet up with them this way," Sora mumbled and grabbed my hand.

"There are more of you worms?" Albel asked, seemingly disgusted.

"Yes. Only two."

"Ah. You sent them away from the city? Then they must be reaching Kirlsa by now. It's the mining town we will go to intervene with the Aquarians. It is also the base of the Storm brigade and the Black brigade," Woltar said.

"Then you will go tomorrow," the king said, shifting to become more comfortable. It wasn't long after he spoke that a soldier entered the room.

"Your highness. Lord Vox made it to the Barr Mountains with his men but none of them have reported back word to Kirlsa yet. We're started to fear the worst."

"Albel, take our guests to their rooms for the night. I'll fill you in later," the king said, dismissing us. Abel grumbled as he stood, shooting a glare at the king before slipping behind Woltar's chair and out the room. Sora and I were quick to follow, not wanting to outstay our welcome. When we got outside, Albel made some sort of noncommittal noise and stalked off down to the first level of the castle. He stopped in front of a large wooden door.

"I'd put you maggots both in the same room, but you don't have my trust yet. One fool can stay here, the other can follow me." I looked up, a little irked that he was separating us.

"If you're going to do that, then at least give us a few minutes alone," I snapped. Sora looked up at me, a trace amount of fear in his eyes.

"Fine," Albel said as he waved us off into the room. I grabbed Sora's wrist and pulled him in. After the door was closed, the brunette pulled away.

"What do you want to talk about?" he asked, walking further into the room.

"I'm glad you're alright. I don't know what I would do without you," I murmured.

"I've only got flesh wounds, nothing serious. You… You look pretty beat up, though." I glanced down at my wounds and shook my head.

"No It's nothing. I've received much worse in training." I walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm just glad that nothing serious happened to you."

"Why are you keeping me away from Kairi?" he asked suddenly.

"Why are you asking this now?"

"Are you trying to keep us apart so you can ruin our relationship?"

"Sora-"

"Oh maybe it's because you're jealous of us? You want her out of the picture, don't you? So you can have me all to yourself," he said, pulling away.

"Sora, listen. You're being irrational. I did they logical thing. Leon and I both agreed that if we split up, we wouldn't leave you in a group together."

"Why?" he asked turning around. "Don't you believe in us?" I could feel the water climbing higher around me as he spoke.

"I know I can believe in you Sora, just, not when you're around Kairi. When two people are that close to each other, they tend to get too wrapped up. They can't ever see the whole picture. We were afraid you'd get yourselves killed."

"You've changed a lot Riku. You're acting like my mother, and when you fight, it's scary. You're so good and you look like you _enjoy_ it."

"I'm sorry," I murmured as I stepped closer to Sora and cupped his cheek. He pulled back from my touch. "I've fallen into some pretty bad habits because my light was gone."

"You didn't have to leave, you know. We could have been happy together. All three of us."

"No. You and Kairi would have been happy. I was to the point of wanting to commit suicide. At least in Radiant Garden I was living bearably."

"Get over yourself, Riku." Sora's words were like a slap to the face. "Kairi and Axel are right. Why can't you just be happy for us?"

"Axel? What did Axel say to you?"

"I can't help you, Riku, unless you get over all of this bull about unrequited love. I'm your light right? You're only going to fall farther if you try to break me and Kairi up."

"Sora," I said as I yanked him forward into my arms, "I am happy for you. I don't want to break you and Kairi up, no matter what anyone says. I may be jealous but I don't want to see you in pain either. Don't listen to them. They're just trying to get us on the rocks."

"Riku, I don't know if I can not listen to them. After seeing you fight today… it all makes sense."

"Damn it, Sora. You know I try to fight the darkness as best I can." I lightly caressed his cheek and lightly kissed his forehead. He shivered a bit before pushing me away.

"S-stop. I'm not like that. I'm engaged to Kairi. It would never have worked anyway." Sora turned away again and moved towards the bed. He was hugging himself. I could tell he was scared.

"I get it. I always have. It was a mistake telling you in the first place I guess," I said forcing a smile.

"I wish you'd never liked me like that." Why did I feel like I was getting close to drowning? Sora never talked like this before. He was always quiet about it. This must have been what he'd been holding back all these years.

"It would have prevented a lot of things."

"Yeah. It would have."

"I guess everything's my fault."

"You can't control what your heart desires. I'm just sorry that you have to go through all of this pain. You're strong, Riku. I know you can over come this."

"I… I don't need your sympathy." I couldn't bare it any longer. Turning sharply, I walked out into the hall, ignoring Sora's call.

Albel was leaned against the wall by the door. He nodded and led me down a hallway.

"I take it you'd like to clean those wounds? It's not wise to leave them like that this time of year," he said without looking at me.

"I didn't know you cared," I spat at him.

"Let your arm rot off then. It's nothing to me, maggot."

"_Fine_. Take me to get my wounds clean," I gritted out. I tell Albel was smirking despite the fact he wasn't facing me. He took a sharp turn down another hall and walked down a flight of stairs. There was a door at the end of the stairs that he practically kicked open.

"We have one common bath house. I hope you don't mind." I could practically hear the smirk dripping off his words.

"Oh, I don't mind at all. After all, it's only nudity." I really didn't care. I'd seen enough people naked in my life that it didn't really bother me anymore. Albel grunted and began unknotting the string holding up his skirt. He kicked it to the side, back facing me, then removed his stockings and boots. His glove, shoulder armor and shirt were next. The claw remained. That couldn't be healthy for the metal, that or that whole arm never touched water.

"Do you get a kick watching other men undress, maggot?" he said, amusedly as his slipped into the steaming bathwater.

"Hell no," I snapped at him. The man was an ass. If it weren't for his pretty face and practically perfect ass, I'd probably hate his entire being. I quickly undressed and sunk into the hot water. The stuff wasn't good for cleaning blood, but it worked wonders for my muscles. Albel was scrubbing at a number of minor flash wounds. As much as I'd have liked to gloat about them, I knew none were from out fight. I, on the other hand, was left with four deep gashes in my arm and a long gash on my stomach.

I washed them carefully and quietly. The water was turning a pinkish color but was practically red the closer it was to me. The wounds had never really stopped bleeding. I had just managed to heal them enough to get back. I pressed my fingers into the gash on my stomach for a moment and gasped. Had it been any deeper and I might have bleed to death, that or leak organs.

"You're bleeding heavily," Albel said in distaste, watching the water slowly grow redder.

"It' nothing I'm not used to. I've suffered much worse in a single battle."

"I refuse to let a bleeding maggot in my bed." In… his… bed… My face tinted pick as my mind went south. Albel look at my face and scoffed. "Fool. Just because I wear a skirt, does not mean I'm like you. There is no other bed in the castle unless you'd like to go back to the worm or to sleep out in the cold snow. If you sleep in my bed, I refuse to let you bloody it."

"Right, right," I chuckled. "Better send for a doctor, then. It's beyond what I can repair on my own right now."

"Good. I don't think that worm is too good for you anyway."

That was the nicest thing I had heard from anyone's lips since getting here, despite the fact that the man who said it was a complete asshole.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

**Author's Note:** Did I make Sora a complete ass? Sorry. It just needed to be that way for plot purposes. And there was Axel again. I can't get enough of him.

This chapter was really fun to write. Especially Albel. I love writing those kinds of characters. For anyone who's played SO3, did I keep him character alright? I'm going to try and get them off of this world in the next two chapters. I'm thinking about doing FF12 as the next world, to get myself more time to find those damned Disney movies. I think I'm going to try to find Pocahontas.

I kind of feel like some of the parts are a bit rushed. Oh well. I might come back and edit it later down the road.

Anyway, it might be a while until the next chapter is out. I'm going to stop to write a crack (or as cracky as I can write) Christmas fic as a present for my friend. I'm going to type my ass off to get it our before Christmas. It's hopefully going to be a really long ass oneshot. Look for it.


	6. Kirsla

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long. I got loaded down with homework from the end of the nine weeks. Things have lightened up a lot so I can write again.

Thanks to StoopidMonkey and pockymarawr for reviewing. You guys crack my up. Much love! Oh, StoopidMonkey, I'll try to get that world in, provided I get my hands on the movie!

I woke up to hands pushing and prodding, rubbing and caressing my bare skin. Hadn't I fallen asleep with a nice thick layer of bedding? And why was it getting rather uncomfortably cold… Suddenly gaining full brain activity, I snapped my eyes open, just as Albel grunted. The noise didn't sound pleased at all, and I was suddenly wondering why I wasn't being torn to shreds by his claw.

"They're gone," Albel grumbled. "How the fucking hell…?"

"What's gone?" I asked, voice still raspy from sleep. Albel's eyes met mine with a wild look.

"Your wounds, fool. Your wounds. No one can heal that fast."

"Oh. Yeah. Well, after the doctor saw me, I used some potions I'd brought along. They do a good job at healing, if you have enough." I yawed and tried to stretch, but was quickly reminded that Albel had a firm grip on my chest. He ghosted his left hand—the hand that should have been in the claw—over my nipple. I gasped slightly, and he smirked. "Damn it! Don't do that!"

"As, much as I like torturing you this way…" the lithe warrior said, running that same hand—which I now realized was wrapped in stained bandages—over a my crotch, which was thankfully still under the covers. I shuddered and batted the hand away. His eye twitched, ever so slightly, at the touch before he spat, "Fool. I dare you to touch that arm again."

"Then don't touch me," I spat back, equally venomous. He growled before pushing himself off the bed.

"You were dreaming about the worm, weren't you?" He asked, walking across the room, shamelessly in his skirt. I didn't know how either of us stood him sleeping in that thing.

"And what business of yours is it if I did or not?" I asked, pushing myself up. I was in my underwear, the only thing that wasn't stolen when my clothes were taken to be washed.

"It's my business when there's something hard poking at my back and disturbing what little peace of mind I still have left," Albel snarled back at me as he pulled on his shirt. My cheeks immediately flushed a deep red.

"I'm so sorry about that."

"You needn't be, fool. I'm feeling generous today. Normally I'd have castrated anyone fool enough to try to dominate me," Albel said, calmly. He accented each word with a click from the armors on his claw locking in place. Gulping, I averted my eyes. I just couldn't think about that. Not that. "I do think you need a new obsession. The worm is just… How do I say this? Straighter than an arrow."

"Arrows bend, you know," I said, letting out what was left of the small beam of hope I'd been holding on to before the night everything fell apart.

"Hence why he is straighter than said arrow. And the worm's not even close to a flaming arrow—it's an oxymoron, so don't even go there."

"You're horrible."

"I didn't get the nickname Albel the Wicked for nothing, fool."

"And what'd you do to earn that?" I asked. Curiosity did kill the cat.

"Plundered a few villages, murdered a few innocents, killed a couple puppies. The usual wicked things. Why, fool?" Albel didn't even turn to look at me as he pulled his impossibly long hair out of the braid he slept with it in and began to wrap it they way he liked.

"My name is Riku, you know."

"I think I like fool better."

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Breakfast in Airyglyph was… interesting to say the least. I was given a plate with two steaming buns, some sort of fried meat on a thick leg bone, and some concoction they passed off for a drink. A solder's daily rations, they said. How the hell did a soldier in a poor country like this get a hunk of meat? I wasn't complaining, though. It was good food, and the drink wasn't too horrible if taken down with a held nose.

Sora, on the other hand was poking at the meat and staring warily at the drink, which had a remotely slimy look to it. Finally, the brunette heaved a rather frustrated sigh and pushed the plate away. Albel raised an eyebrow at the antic, taking a bite from his apple from perch on the long table a few feet from me.

"Sora, you should really eat. You don't know when we'll get another decent meal," I said, pushing the plate back towards him. He stared up at me, his expression frighteningly blank.

"I'm not really hungry. I've got too much on my mind," he replied looking away. Albel shrugged, and dropped the core of his apple on the table.

"Suit yourself, worm, but don't come crying to me or pretty boy when you're dieing of hunger tonight." Albel reached over the table and grabbed the leg bone and took a large bite out of the barely touched meat. There was something erotically barbaric about the action. How Albel had made it so far in the military with such manners and at such an age, I could only guess. He was probably a militaristic genius, but I suppose I'd never know until I saw him in an actual battle.

"Hey," Sora pouted upon seeing the action. Albel simply shrugged and took another bite.

"No use in letting good food go to waste. I'm not this skinny for cosmetic reasons. I shouldn't have given you any to begin with if you weren't hungry."

"That's still not fair. I could have taken it for later!" Sora pouted. The look was so cute; I couldn't help but stare.

"I care not. We leave as soon as the fool is done eating." Albel looked at me from the corner of his eyes as he devoured the meat. I could tell he was enjoying messing with Sora's head. This was going to be a long and grating trip. I ripped the last scrap of meat from the bone before chugging the rest of my drink.

"Let's go," I said, standing and pushing away from the table. Albel hopped of the tabled and stalked over the basket he'd gotten his first apple from and got a second. Biting into it, he turned his back and moved to the castle exit, not caring I we followed or not. As Sora stood, looked at me.

"Why were you and Albel in the same room last night?" he asked. I raised my eyebrow slightly at the question.

"There wasn't another room and he didn't want us fighting. I think he could tell that we were pretty tense towards each other after everything that happened," I answered, turning away and following Albel.

"You didn't—"

"Sora, not now. Tonight maybe. But not now. I want this day to start off good." Sora nodded numbly before following after.

Upon leaving the castle, I was hit by a wall of frigid air. I shivered rather violently for a few minutes before my body adjusted. I'd almost forgotten the weather in the nice warm castle. Albel ducked into a shop about halfway through the city. Sora and I followed him in, only to find ourselves in an accessory and foodstuffs store. Albel was stuffing a bag with various potion bottles. He threw the bag at me and a small coin purse at the shopkeeper before walking back out.

"Those should suffice for the worm's journey. I doubt you have enough left to heal his wounds," Albel said to me. I could practically feel Sora's glare. Sighing, I tossed the bag to him, and he began rummaging through it. After a moment, he sighed and swung it over his back.

Upon exiting the city, a soldier on dragon back approached us. "Lord Albel, do you wish for us to take you there by air?" he asked, saluting.

"No. We'd be fool to take that route. Best we take the path through Traum and enter quietly. The dragons have been acting up in that region, even the tamed ones. I don't feel like getting charged for another death."

"Sir!" The soldier, said, saluting again and turning the dragon around. Albel certainly had almost everyone well trained, even if they weren't apart of his military division.

We walked for maybe an hour before we were forced to really fight. It was strange fending off creatures other than the heartless. Our keyblades weren't very as effective against flesh and blood as a real blade, but they did the job. At times we had to stop because the snow became so thick that it was impossible to see. But despite everything, Albel insisted we'd make it to Kirsla before dark.

"I was born and raised in Kirsla," Albel finally said to me, while Sora was lagging behind a few feet. "I've made this journey a few thousand times since I was a little boy. I know we'll be there. Then you and the worm can check the inn for your other party members."

"Hey, why are you being so friendly to me, but not Sora?" I asked, the though finally coming to mind.

"The brat's not to my liking. Not many are. You, on the other hand… I can sense that we are more similar than I think either of us would like to admit."

"So you're being nice to me?"

"Don't confuse nice and friendly with more tolerant." Albel turned away and walked ahead. Sora quickened his pace and caught up to me. We hadn't spoken much since breakfast and it was somewhat awkward now.

"Do you think that Kairi's in Kirsla?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not sure, but don't worry. Kairi's a strong girl. I mean, she did go and fight heartless for your sake before. I doubt any harm has come to her."

"Thanks, Riku. And, I guess, sorry about last night. I wasn't being really rational. Axel just said a bunch of stuff that confused me."

"It's alright, really. To be honest, I was expecting an explosion like that ever since you and Kairi started dating."

"Riku…"

"Fool! Come here!" Albel called to us. I jogged to catch up with the wicked one, Sora not far behind me. He was holding out a broken golden charm bracelet. No, it was _the_ golden charm bracelet. The one I'd given to Kairi. "I haven't seen anything like it before. It belongs, perhaps, to a friend of yours?"

"Yeah. I have. Give it to me. I'll return it to the owner," I said, holding my hand out.

"Riku, is that Kairi's?" Sora asked as he stopped beside me.

"I think so, but don't worry. I think it probably just broke in battle."

"I hope you're right…"

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

We arrived in Kirsla about an hour before sundown. It was a strange combination of a city and town. Land wise, it was the same size as Airyglyph, but there were fewer people. It was a quiet and slow place. The people seemed to be much warmer to us, and there wasn't any snow in site. It made me wonder how the hell Albel turned out the way he did growing up in a place like this. Maybe it was the large amount of soldiers wandering around.

"I'm off to Woltar's Manor," Albel said as he motioned to a giant house at the northern edge of the town. "Go to the inn and look around the town. Go there, afterwards. I'll inform the guards."

Albel was gone before we could even reply. I looked to Sora and nodded toward the main part of the sleepy town. Quiet a few girls seemed to be out and about gathering last minute supplies before night. Many giggled and stared appreciatively at us. I could only guess that we were a nice change from the sweaty tin cans that seemed so common. As much as I'd seen, there weren't very many men that held beauty like we had on Destiny Islands and Radiant Garden.

"They're making me nervous," Sora said, ringing his hands like a shy schoolboy. I chuckled a little off handedly.

"You get used to after a while," I said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I guess. But you've had people fawning over you since middle school, so you really don't have much room to speak." The little brunette nudged me in the side playfully. I laughed, glad that we were getting back to friendly terms.

"Psh. I was made fun of everyday about looking like a girl until the first day of seventh grade. And I'm damn proud about it now. Got my revenge on all those guys." Sora threw his head back in laughter.

"Yeah, girls left and right, practically throwing themselves at you." He clutched at his side, as he looked up at me. "You had all the luck, too bad you're… Anyway. Girls didn't really pay much attention to me."

"Only because they deemed you a lost cause when they realized you and Kairi were so wrapped up in each other. I swear, you two have always looked perfect together."

"Geez, Riku."

"I'm only telling the truth. It's like you're made for each other," I murmured as I smiled sincerely.

"Yeah," he said, nodding. "I guess we are. Hey, I think that's the inn!" Sora suddenly bounced to life and sprinted the rest of the way to the inn. I only smiled after him as I continued walking. He'd probably be in and out before I got there. He ducked his head out, just as I stepped up to the door.

"Well?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They're on the guest roster. Checked in earlier today! I told the lady that we needed to se them, so come on!" Sora said giddily as he grabbed my wrist and dragged me through the lobby and up some steps. We were met with one room and several beds. One of the beds was already taken by a suspicious looking lump. There was deep red hair poking out from under the covers. I could see Sora's face begin to glow and he stepped forward.

"Stop right there," A very familiar gruff voice called out from behind us. Leon. It had to be. I turned slightly and looked back at him. It was the tall brunette, and I sighed in relief. He gave me a strange look before speaking again. "Riku?"

"Yeah. It's me," I said, moving towards him.

"Why are you here? I thought you were checking out the that city?" He asked. Sora moved from behind me, towards what we were assuming was Kairi. "Sora, leave her alone. She needs the sleep to recover."

"We did. We're here now. On business, I guess I could say. We came with one of the military leaders of this country. We're going to intercept their enemy at the mines in the area. They claim to have another offwolder."

"Kairi's injured? How bad?" Sora said worriedly.

"We were attacked by a very strong man on the way here. Kairi was mostly untouched, but she did get a few scraps and a twisted ankle. She fought well, Sora. Don't worry about her."

"A strong man, huh?" I said, moving back to look at Kairi. Sora was close behind me and when Kairi shifted and turned in the bed, Sora was kneeling down by its side. She groaned slightly and opened her eyes.

"S-sora?" She said sleepily.

"Kairi, are you ok?" he asked, taking her hand. I sighed and turned back to Leon.

"Look, the guy we came with, Albel, is staying in the mansion in the north of this town. He wants us to meet him there, so we can leave as a group in the morning. I think it'd be very important for us to get this other person that's claiming to be from another world. We'll probably gain a better picture of what's been going on."

"I agree. I'm afraid to move Kairi, though." I glanced back at the pair at the bed and sighed.

"If Kairi can sit up in bed and suck face with Sora, I think she can walk a few hundred meters."

"Her lips are not her legs, Riku."

"I know, but still. Sora can carry her or something. Then I won't have to deal with her for a while. I don't really want to spend the night in the same room as those two."

"I see. It's completely understandable," Leon said as he moved over to the couple. He grabbed Sora by the collar and yanked him away from Kairi. "Now isn't the time to make-out, no matter how much you missed each other."

"We need to go to Woltar's Manor," I threw out from my place. Sora groaned before pulling away from Leon and pouting.

"Fine. Come on, Kairi. I'll carry you." Kairi nodded before climbing onto Sora's offered back. I sighed and walked down the stairs to the lobby.

"We won't be staying here tonight. My friends and I will be leaving in a moment," I informed the clerk. She nodded, blushing slightly. Leon appeared, with Sora and Kairi not far behind. I nodded to the door and started walking. It took maybe a total of five minute to walk up to the gates and get into the property. The path leading up to the manor was dirt, and the area surrounding it was what looked like training ground. Sora stumbled twice, but managed to catch himself both times. Another guard at the door let us in and escorted us up.

"That was fast," came Albel's voice. He was spread across an ornate couch near the stairs, looking rather bored. There are two rooms and an office this side of the manor. We'll use those. Worm, you and your wench can take the far room." The crimson-eyed warrior motioned to the far end.

"Hey! Don't call me a wench. Don't you have any respect?" Kairi said, very ruffled and very pissed.

"I think the better question is: do you have a brain?" Albel said, flatly as his gaze hardened. It was down right murderous and I could see Sora and Kairi shrink back. "I don't give a damn about what you do, as long as you don't sully the sheets. Go before I lose my temper." Sora nodded and took off toward the room.

"That was a bit uncalled for," I said, stepping up to him.

"They annoy me. The wench looks stupid. Sounds like it too," Albel said as he stood.

"We're tired and would like to know where we're staying," I said, glancing back at Leon. A smirk broke onto Albel's face.

"In my room of course. Follow me." He turned and walked to the room closest to us. He shoved the door open and stepped inside, letting us see it. I was smaller than the room in the castle, but it felt more homey and lived in. There was a king sized bed located towards the middle right. "Only one bed. Deal with it."

"We've shared smaller," Leon said.

"So it talks. Good. I'll be in the study," Albel said as he moved back towards the door.

"Where are you sleeping?" I asked. Albel paused, chuckled darkly and continued on, closing the door behind him.

"He's blunt and rude," Leon commented as he sat don on the bed.

"And you and I aren't?" I said taking the other side.

"I guess you're right. He still unnerves me, though." Leon was yanking of his boots.

"He's a strange guy, but one of the strongest on this world. He's a good ally." I kicked off my boots.

"He doesn't like Sora," Leon said, standing up and pulling off his jacket and shirt.

"He thinks Sora's a wimp and bad for me." I said, ogling Leon's ass. "Are the pants going too?"

"You're desperate, aren't you?" The brunette said, eying me. I sighed heavily.

"This hasn't been the easiest of weeks. I haven't done anything since Sephiroth disappeared, and I've been dealing with you in leather, Sora, and Albel. It doesn't help that Albel prances around like a whore in those clothes with that body. Not to mention, I woke up to him groping me."

"That's way to much information."

"Sorry." I knew I was sounding whinny, but I didn't care. I was an addict, and addictions were always very hard to break.

"Look, We can do something, just not on the bed."

"Why not?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Albel didn't want the sheets sullied."

"Oh yeah…" I murmured as Leon walked over and buried his hands in my hair. I began fingering the button on his pants as he stepped even closer. "I guess that only leaves two options…"

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

I awoke under Leon, his weight pinning me down in a rather awkward position. Last night was the first time we'd fooled around sober. It was odd and felt like I was cheating on Sora, but at the same time I felt so much relief. It was odd how things worked.

Shifting, my legs brushed Leon's outer thighs and caused him to groan into the pillow beside my head. I sighed softly into the crook of his neck. Leon finally decided to move, clawing my back with filed down nails. The brunette brushed his lips on my jaw and neck.

"I feel dirty," I murmured. Leon sighed and pulled back.

"Get over it. It's not like there was any real penetration involved."

"You're right, but I still can't help but feel dirty."

"Don't. Sora doesn't give you a second thought when he fools around with Kairi."

"Uhg. Don't remind me," I groaned and rolled over. Leon got up from the bed in search of his clothes. Admiring the show, I waited and watched. Leon had a very nice ass. Better than Sora's. After a long moment, I dragged myself out and redressed. We went in search of Albel, only to find him on the same couch as last night munching on an apple.

"So the fools are up," Albel said. His voice held a carefully concealed hint of exhaust and there were dark circles getting darker under his eyes. "Didn't I say not to sully the sheets?"

"We didn't. Go check you're self if you don't believe," Leon grunted, folding his arms across his chest.

"I see. The idiot seems better than the worm."

"Fuck buddies. That's all," I deadpanned. Albel raised an eyebrow but made no further fuss.

"I think I'll go wake up the worms," Abel said curtly. He rose and walked off towards the room Sora and Kairi were sharing. I sighed and turned to Leon.

"I feel like punching him. He's so insolent," Leon growled out lowly.

"Don't. He'd completely pown you. I should know. I fought him."

"That does—" Leon cut himself short and a pair of rather high-pitched shrieks rang through the mansion. One of them distinctly sounded like Kairi. Leon growled lightly under his breath as I rubbed my temples. The door suddenly burst open and Kairi ran from the room, clutching a sheet to her obviously naked torso. Sora followed close behind, stumbling as he tried to pull on a pair of boxers, only to trip and fall on Kairi.

I couldn't help but break out in laughter. The looks on their faces and the situation they were in were just too hilarious. Sparing a quick glance at Leon's face, I could see he was trying to hide a smile. Albel appeared at the door with livid eyes. He stalked over to Sora and grabbed him by the neck with his claw. The Wicked pulled the smaller male closer to his face. "Worm!"

"OmiGAWD! Sora!" Kairi screeched, dropping her sheet and running over to Albel. What little excitement I had gotten out of watching half naked Sora wrestling slutty warrior Albel was extinguished by the site of Kairi's bikini-panty covered ass and bare breasts jiggling as she tried to pry Albel off Sora. Said brunette glanced at Kairi and flushed a deep red before looking away. Abel too looked at her. He simply raised an eyebrow.

"Nice tits, whore," he simply said. Kairi looked down, shrieked and ran back to her sheet.

"Uhg! How dare you say that to me! Omigawd, Sora _do something_ about this freak!" Kairi screamed at a safe distance from Albel. The Wicked promptly dropped Sora, who by now looked like he was beginning to have a little problem from seeing Kairi like that. The brunette simply slouch to the ground his face still very red. Albel stalked towards Kairi and she shrieked again.

"I have every right to call you that. I walk in and see you both getting ready to make it despite what I'd told you," he snarled. Upon hearing Albel's words, my laughter ceased completely. I shifted my eyes to the ground.

"It was only making-out!" Sora yelled, seeming to finally snap out of his daze.

"Making out? That only proves my point," Albel growled.

"Uhg! He means kissing!" Kairi called.

"That still doesn't explain why you were naked and the whore is only in underwear."

"We got a little carried away last night! So what? I stopped it before it went that far. That's all that should matter," Sora yelled. He was beyond pissed. Sora rarely ever raised his voice above semi-loud. "Now get the fuck away from my fiancé! I'm not gonna let you hurt the person I love!" A shudder ran down my entire body at Sora's words. I turned to leave, but Leon grabbed my arm and held me still.

"Fah. Love is a weak emotion. All it'll get you is killed," Albel spat.

"That's not true! My love for Kairi makes me stronger than you'll ever be. I may not be a match for you now, but give me three months of training with Kairi and Leon and Riku and all my friends by my side and I'll be able to destroy you," Sora spat.

"You truly are a fool. If love can over come all then why is it my left arm that's the only thing screwed up beyond repair? Love makes you many stupid things. My father died because of love!"

"I'm not a fool, you are! For not realizing that dieing like that takes the most strength. I died once to save Kairi and I becam—"

"Stop it!" I finally yelled, not able to take it any longer. I was hugging myself, nails digging into my arms. I could feel Leon hovering over my, but I couldn't see; my eyes were clenched tight. "Just shut up, Sora! You don't know anything! I've done so much for love and it's only screwed me over! So… so just… just shut up!" I yelled before ripping away from Leon and heading down the stairs and out the manor.

I wandered around Kirsla until I found a sealed off mine guarded by a monk. I collapsed on the rock face surrounding the entrance. The monk tried to get me to talk, but I ignored him. It was at least an hour before someone else came to the entrance and the monk began warning against entering.

"Uhm, I'm actually here for him," I heard the familiar voice of Sora say. He came closer and stopped just in front of me. "Are you ready to leave? We need to start heading to the mines."

"Fine," I grumbled. I wanted to be as Far from Sora as possible at the moment though. Pushing myself up, I gave Sora a half glare, half hurt look before walking past. He sighed.

"It was just luck that I found you. Leon lectured me and Kairi and then we split up looking for you."

"I don't really care Sora. I don't really feel like talking to you at the moment. I need some more time to steel myself over after all of that."

"Right," Sora said. We were both quiet after that.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

All the way to the mines I stayed in the far back. Leon was about half a meter in front of me. Sora and Kairi were farther ahead, hand in hand. Albel was in front guiding us. When we reached the entrance we sat and waited.

"We'll let the prey come to us. This is the only exit that leads back to civilization. They'll have to come this way," Albel said as he began stretching out. Sora and Kairi went to find a quiet spot alone and Leon decided to stake out the area. I simply dropped to the ground and crossed my legs. I watched Albel until he lunged deep enough that his entire leg and his scant underwear were visible. He was so damn flexible, but I guess he had to be to be such a great warrior.

Leon returned after a while with a few scraps and a bruise on his right cheek. I raised an eyebrow at him but he just humphed and turned away. "Heartless," he offered up after a moment. I nodded and looked back to Albel, who was now standing with his weight on one leg, hand on hip.

"I can hear the mine carts. They're getting close. Prepare for battle," Albel said. He turned away from the mines and walked behind a large rock. "Let's let them think they're in the clear. Catch them off guard."

About fifteen minutes later a red headed woman in clothes that resembled some strange combination of rouge and ninja exited the cave mouth with a blue haired boy close behind. They had a light layer of dust from the mines covering them and looked somewhat tired.

"It looks like the coast is clear. We should clear the area of any of those weird creatures before we start moving the copper back to Arias," the red headed woman said as she started forward and pulled a pair of daggers out.

"Right," said the boy as he drew his long sword.

"That's the boy," Albel said. "There shouldn't be heartless in that area. There never are because they like avoiding stronger heartless in the mines. They'll be coming this way."

"I say we meet them half way," I said. Albel looked at me and nodded. He signaled for us to move forward. As they were rounding the bend we intercepted them head on.

"Sorry to ruin you supply run, but these are our mines. I can't let you complete that weapon. Not to mention, we need that boy back," Albel said, rather arrogantly.

"No way am I going back with you!" the boy shouted.

"I don't think you have a choice!" I said, stepping forward. "You have information that we need." I called forth Way To Dawn and moved in front of Albel altogether. The boy gasped and stepped back before regaining his cool. He obviously recognized a key blade when he saw one. "Information that could change the fate of this world and all others. I'd rather not have to use force, but I will if necessary." I moved into an offensive stance.

"Then we'll fight," the woman said.

"Nel, wait, I don't think that's a good idea!" the boy said.

"Fayt, my people are depending on getting that copper."

"Suit yourself," I said as I lunged forward and knocked her down before she could even defend herself. I pointed the end Of Way To Dawn at her throat, despite the fact that it could do little damage there.

"How is this possible?" this woman, who I assumed was called Nel, asked stunned.

"Riku! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sora called. He and Kairi were obviously just now getting back.

"You are both coming with us," I said down to her and glancing up at the Fayt boy. "I don't want any fuss or fight. We will go in the mines, send the copper back to your country and you will rightfully pay for it. This is no time for a war. This world is doomed if this continues on."

"Fool, what are you thinking?"

"Shut up, Albel," I threw over my shoulder. I was tired of dealing with people today already. I turned back to Nel and said, "You will send a message to your ruler to meet for a peace treaty, or at least a cease fire. Albel, that goes or you too!"

"Riku, stop it," Sora said as he stormed up and yanked my arm so that Way To Dawn was no longer pointing at Nel's neck.

"Fine, we'll come with you," Fayt said, looking down at the ground.

"Fayt, are you sure?" Nel asked as she started to get up. The blunette nodded.

"Alright then. We'll send the copper off and head back to Kirsla then," I said, dismissing Way To Dawn.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

We were all scrunched into Woltar's study, Albel sitting behind the desk and everyone else circled around. Fayt looked somewhat depressed and Nel looked to be trying to figure out a way out. Kairi was seated in Sora's lap. Leon and I were off towards the side, standing. The sun was setting outside and the town was falling quiet.

"So, Fayt… You say you're from another world. Would you mind describing it to us?" Sora said, shifting Kairi so he could look at everyone else in the room.

"Yeah. Well… It was completely different from here. I lived in this huge city with millions of people. It was a lot farther technologically than here too. A few hundred years, actually. Most people were absorbed in their gadgets. Music players, computers. People didn't interact face to face as much as they do here."

"Sounds a little like Destiny Islands these days," Kairi said, looking down. "Just not as many people. There are only about five or six hundred thousand where we come from."

"It sounds exactly how Radiant Garden used to be. It's starting to go back that way too," Leon said.

"Really? I don't remember…" Kairi said.

"Tell us about what happened to your world," I said, wanting to get back on track.

"Well," Fayt started. "It first started when these creatures similar to those black cats and birds appeared. We didn't pay much attention at first, but then they just kept multiplying. Before too long they were destroying whole sectors of the city.

"Then finally one night a great storm came. I went outside and floating in the air was a man with long flowing silver hair dressed in black. He was floating in the air near the eye of the storm clouds. He was eerily calm too. He looked down at me and I swear I couldn't move. The world started collapsing then. Everything was disintegrating and being sucked into the storm clouds."

"That sounds like what happened seven years ago to Destiny Islands," Sora said quietly. I looked away from the group, shame falling heavily on my shoulders once again. It was because of me that what happened to Destiny Islands did.

"More importantly, it sounds like Sephiroth was there," Leon said.

"So both the organization and Sephiroth are out there causing problems," Sora said. "This is going to be hard fight."

"More so than you know, Sora. You may have defeated Sephiroth once, but it was only because he let you," I said, finally looking back at the group. "I've fought him several times and have never won."

"If what you say is true then…" Albel started, only to fade off.

"This world is on its way to destruction and the enemy is almost impossible to beat," Nel finished a moment later. The door suddenly burst open and a scared, blood covered guard tried to catch his breath.

"Lord Albel! The troupes that were sent off to Barr this morning were completely annihilated! Only one soldier was able to make it back. He was critically injured. He was barely able to tell us what happened!" the soldier said, panic dripping from his voice.

"Damn it!" Albel yelled, slamming his fists on Woltar's desk. "What did he say?"

"He… he said that they were attacked by black dragons and… And Lord Vox was leading them. Albel growled before beating the desk again.

"Call all soldiers back to the city and lock the gates. All gates are to be heavily guarded. I will leave for Barr, personally in the morning," Albel barked at the soldier. The poor man saluted and left quickly.

"It sounds like Vox has been turned into a heartless along with all of the dragons around there," I said, starting to walk towards the door. "If we are leaving in the morning then we'll need to be getting to be to get an early start."

"I need to return to Aquios. Her majesty needs me to escort her to the cease fire agreement," Nel said.

"Then you will leave in the morning," Albel snapped. "Fool, idiot, pipsqueak, you will stay here tonight with me. Wench, whore, worm, you will go to the inn. Tell the innkeeper to bill it to Albel the Wicked." I nodded and headed back to the room I had stayed in the previous night, Leon close behind me.

After I was sure the others left, I sought Albel out and asked his for directions to the bath. I needed another nice long soak. He pointed me in the direction. I closed the door behind me and leaned back against it. After a moment I began running the water and stripping. Just as I was about to remove my boxers, someone chuckled from behind me. I whipped around and came face to face with Riku.

"Those are some pretty nasty scars," he said smirking.

"What are you doing here now?" I demanded.

"Relax, buddy. I come in peace this time. I thought we should talk."

"There's nothing for us to talk about."

"Oh, there's lots, actually. You know for a fact Sephiroth's been out destroying worlds."

"So what?"

"Whatever you do, Riku, don't join up with him. If you do, everything everyone has been working for will be sunk."

"Like I actually plan on joining him."

"Like that Albel guy said, love makes you do stupid things. Sora doesn't love you He's even admitted to being scared of you at times. I don't think you can deny it either. He won't openly admit it, but…"

"Just shut up. I know already."

"The offer is still open for whenever you'd like to join a group of people that will truly care for you."

"Stop with the bullshit, Axel. I know you don't feel emotions."

"True, but you'd be better off dead if you refuse to join us. Sephiroth will do anything to get at your power. He's been training you, so it'll only make sense that he'll be back eventually to collect on his investment."

"What the hell would he want with me when he has Cloud?" I asked skeptically.

"Lots of things, actually. When I was up at Barr earlier today I caught a glimpse of a silver haired man. He was too fast for me to follow though. But that's all I really have to say. Bye-bye, Riku-poo." Axel disappeared into a dark portal after that, leaving me to wallow.

I collapsed back into the tub and cut the water off. Without thinking, I smashed a candleholder that was on the side of the tub. It cut into my wrist and I watched as the blood dripped down my arm. Slowly, I picked up the biggest piece and brought it down onto my other wrist. I would be better off dead, huh?

I cut deep, several times.

I was suddenly back to where I was seven years ago. Back to where I was five years ago. Back to where I was three years ago.

It was stupid to keep turning back to pain, but it was the only thing I knew.

The door opened and Leon looked at me, shocked.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

**Author's Note: I've decided I want four reviews by the next chapter.** So yeah…. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Haha. And incase you're wondering, here are some links to the Star Ocean characters I use in here. The first is Albel, second is Fayt, and third is Nel. Just remove the spaces.

Http:// i13. albums/ a263/ Para-chan/ art03.jpg

http:// i13. albums/ a263/ Para-chan/ art-002.jpg

http:// i13. albums/ a263/ Para-chan/ Nel.jpg

Anyway, blah… I don't have much more to say. Next Chapter will be the last Elicoor chapter. I'm borrowing Disney movies from my friend and I suspect the next world will indeed be Pocahontas, then maybe Lilo and Stitch's or El Dorado. Tell me which you'd rather see.


	7. Of Caves and Lava and Guns

Author's Note: My friend wanted her video's back so this came out faster than I wanted. Haha. So anyway…. I feel like this was waaay rushed and most of it is crap. I feel like I could have done it better. Oh well. STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA.

Ahem: Lotsa love to StoopidMonkey and Is-Simple. StoopidMokey, you crack me up as always. Is-Simple, How so? And that world it shall be. I'll try finding the other too.

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"_How the hell could you let that shit start up again?"_

"_It doesn't matter that is was an accident to start with."_

"_It's one thing to let Sephiroth tear you up. It's another thing to do it yourself."_

"_That's not a good enough reason to, Riku. They may not show it well, but no one on this trip wants to see you in pain, especially this kind."_

"_I'm sorry. I don't think I can trust you enough to leave you alone anymore."_

Leon's words from the night before were cycling through my head, nonstop. I was seated on the bed in Albel's room, half dressed and clutching Kairi's broken charm bracelet.

"_Look, I know they don't want to push you aside, even if they are. If they won't come to you, then you'll need to try to reinforce those old bonds. It's the first step to recovery."_

But I didn't _want_ to recover. I wanted the impossible. I sighed, stood, and pocketed the charm bracelet. Albel had told me in wee hours of the morning that there were workshops around town were I could repair the bracelet. Why Albel had been up I didn't know, but I doubt it was because of Fayt as he claimed. Leon had woken up and dragged me back to bed before I could question Albel any farther.

I quickly pulled on my shirt and boots before heading out of the manor. I wandered around the town, talked with a few of the housewives and their daughters and eventually found the workshop. It didn't take long to find the tools to fix the bracelet, but it took me a good thirty minutes of twisting wire to get it right. Satisfied, I repocketed it and made my way back to the manor.

Leon was at the gates, looking rather pissed. I had, after all, snuck out while he was in the bath. "Where did you go?" he asked sharply.

"I found Kairi's bracelet. I went to repair it. I figured it was about time I tried to worm my way back in some," I murmured, looking at the ground, hair falling in my eyes.

"Can't blame you for trying then, can I?" Leon said. "Look, they're due to come back over anytime now. Catch Kairi away from Sora. It'll be easier when you're not distracted."

"I know already. Has Nel left already?"

"Yes a few moments ago. Now cheer up and keep those damn wrists covered." With that, Leon turned and walked back into the manor grounds.

"Riku!" a rather high-pitched voice called. I turned to see Kairi coming towards me, dragging a groggy looking Sora behind her.

"Geez. Sora, you look dead. Maybe you should go in the manor and get some more sleep," I said when they got closer.

"That's sounds good… but where would I crash?" Sora asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Just go to me and Leon's room. Leon's up and about, so it should be free." Sora nodded and headed off towards the manor, stumbling sleepily ever once in a while.

"Mmm. That's really nice of you to offer, Riku. We were up really late last night, and Sora really needs his beauty sleep," Kairi said. She stood there with her arms behind her back and smiling at me slightly. "He's really crabby without it."

"Sora must get a lot of action," I said, a small smirk on my lips. Kairi blushed deeply before stammering for a moment, then finally gathered her wits.

"N-no. It wasn't like that, Riku. Not at all. We have manners. That hotel is one roomed. A-and it's not like sex it the only thing we have in our relationship. We were up late listening to Nel. She was telling us about this world and the political situation. It's very interesting, but I kinda fell asleep after awhile. Sora stayed up to hear it all," Kairi rambled, her blush falling under control.

"Ah, I see. But still, Sora's a lucky guy," I murmured. Kairi's cheeks tinted the slightest shade of pink at the comment.

"Riku, you're such a flirt. I'm taken too. What would Sora think?" She said, an undertone of teasing in her voice.

"I don't think Sora sees me as a threat. He knows you'd never leave him. You to were practically made for each other." But he's not the one that even needed to consider me competition in the first place.

"That's… Wow, Riku. That was really… kind? I really don't know how to express it to you."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I have something I wanted to return to you." I reached into my pocket and gripped the bracelet.

"Really? What is it?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Well, I found that charm bracelet I gave you in the snow, all beat up, so…" Pulled it out and showed it to her.

"Omigawd, Riku. It looks like new!"

"Yeah. I fixed it by hand."

"You really didn't have to, Riku."

"I didn't want to find out what would happen to Sora if you got injured."

"That's really sweet, Riku," Kairi said, giving me a large smile and slipping the bracelet on.

"We should head in. They're probably getting ready to serve breakfast."

"Mmm. Yes. Do you think we should let Sora sleep through it?"

"If there's one thing that I know will make Sora more grumpy, it's an empty stomach."

"Then we let him sleep and make him eat on the road," Kairi said grinning.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. Remember when we decided to go to the main island and have a picnic on the volcano's summit? Sora got hungry while we were hiking and ate all of his food and got sick."

"Tidus did something similar to that too. Threw up all over Wakka, right before a game too," Kairi giggled. From there, we lapsed into comfortable conversation. Just like old times. Just like before Sora and Kairi were getting too caught up in each other.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

We had ended up waking Sora up from his nap and forced two steaming buns, a bowl of stew, and a glass of wine down his throat. Well, maybe not exactly forced. Once he had taken the first bite he was good to devour the whole table, but we stopped him. It wasn't exactly a normal breakfast but it was hardy. I found out that Fayt was only nineteen, and not allowed to drink on his world. It made sense, and I could understand his unease to taking the offered glass of wine. Not all teenagers were boozehounds like they were often stereotyped.

We left Kirsla for Barr an hour after sunrise. It would take about two hours to reach the mines, then we'd pass the entrance and continue north and up into Barr. Hopefully we would find Vox there. Albel was leading the group with Leon taking up the middle space in the group. I lagged back and was conversing with Kairi and Sora, and Fayt was lobbying between me, Sora and Kairi, and Albel. The way he talked to Albel seemed a little friendlier than it probably should have.

"So you and Kairi are engaged?" Fayt asked Sora. Sora was walking with his arms behind his head with Fayt and Kairi on either side. I was on Kairi's other side.

"Yeah. We've been dating for several years now," Sora replied, looking at Fayt.

"Wow. You're so lucky to have a soul mate like that. I thought I was in love with this girl once, but then I met this guy. He was really tall with nice cut muscles and the prettiest blonde hair and blue eyes. That's when I realized that I only loved her as a sister. But that guy is gone now… along with everyone else in my world," Fayt explained.

"That's a pretty sad story," Sora said back to him.

"But I think we can all relate to it. We've lost our home and loved ones before," I said.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. But after a while, you just have to deal and move on. I'm sure you'll see him again someday, Fayt," Sora said.

"Yeah… But I don't think I'm really interested in him anymore," the blunette said, staring directly at Albel's back. "Heh, anyway!"

We continued forward and made it deep into Barr. The place was crawling with dragons, both normal and heartless. So and Kairi were staring to wear down but Fayt was doing surprisingly well. We slowly reached a cave and worked our way through the dank passages, the number of dragons and their power increasing as we worked our way deeper. Finally we his a dead end with what looked to be a dragon relief painting.

"Funny that we end up here. Searched every damn corner and this is where it gets us. I never thought I'd be returning," Albel said looking at the relief.

"You've been here before? Doing what?" Kairi asked, stepping up beside Albel.

"That's none of your business, whore," the warrior snapped. She glared at Albel before making her way back to Sora's side. Albel turned to look at me.

"Use some of that fancy Runeology of yours to bust this down. I don't feel like making the necessary object to nock this down," Albel said, bored.

"It's not runeology, it's magic. You know I don't have runes on my body," I said, beginning to charge dark energies into flame in my hand.

"I don't care what you call it," Albel snapped.

"Move," I said sternly and threw the dark flames at the relief, effectively destroying it. Albel didn't wait to move and continued. I followed closely afterward, and the others not far behind me. We entered a long hallway that ended with stone doors. Albel pushed the doors open, and a wide-open room could be seen past his lean figure. Several of the floor tiles were glowing. As we entered the tile closest to the door lit up and then others as we continued across.

Standing at the far end of the room, in front of another large relief, was man that was fairly tall and well-muscled and short silver hair. Silver hair. This must have been the man that Axel had seen. Silver hair wasn't common on most worlds, I knew for sure. He turned and looked at us. My breath caught when I saw his eyes. They were a murky green with a hint of blue. They… they looked like my father's eyes.

"Big brother!" he called in a voice that was eerily childish, yet deep with age.

"Who are you talking to, maggot?" Albel snapped at the man.

"Big brother, we've been waiting to meet you for so long! Come, let's go to Sephiroth together! The other's are waiting!" He said, a slight tone of insanity to his tone. He knew where Sephiroth was, though. He… was all that we had to go on. Not to mention I had a gut feeling that I was the one that the man was talking about.

"Sephiroth? I'm sorry. He never mentioned you. And even if he did, I don't have anything to do with him anymore," I said stepping forward.

"Sephiroth hasn't… You're… not…" The man said, extremely confused. I started walking slowly towards him. A tile lit up beneath my feet and the relief behind him disappeared. He ran into the next room. I didn't hesitate to follow him, everyone close on my tail. There was a rumbling in the stone room and chunks from the ceiling began to fall down. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground, sharp talons piercing into my side and stomach. I let out a sharp cry, as it had been a long time since anything had pierced me so deeply, not even Sephiroth made a habit of it.

"Riku!" barely made it into my ears and I couldn't make out who it was. There were a few sounds of battle and then I felt myself being lifted into the air by whatever had in its grasp. "Riku, hold on!"

"H-he's bleeding so much! There's not much time!" More sounds of metal scrapping shadow and metal filled what little of my senses that weren't devoted towards the pain. When I opened my eyes, everything was blurred, but the most prominent thing was red. Lots of red. I squeezed my eyes shut again. After another moment, I heard a deafening screech and dropped to the floor hard.

"Kairi, get Riku off the battlefield! Pour elixirs into his wounds! Go, now!" I heard someone call, probably Leon. I felt myself being lifted my small shaky arms and dragged away. Cracking my eyes open I looked at my assailant: a man riding a dragon in shades reminiscing of heartless. Vox?

Suddenly there was a searing burning pain in my wounds that reminded me fleetingly of the slight soothing sting of potions. I cried out again and dug my nails into my palms. The pain quickly lessened, the elixir began to regenerate my cells and close the wounds.

"I'm sorry, Riku. This is going to hurt again," Kairi mumbled softly to me as she poured the fiery liquid on my wounds. I choked back any noises that tried to escape my lips, but I only ended up writhing in pain. When the pain subsided again, I looked at Kairi. Her image was still blurry. "You've lost a lot of blood."

"I can guess that," I rasped out. Closing my eyes and sleeping sounded like a very nice prospect at the moment, but I knew I shouldn't. I would worry everyone to death. By the time I had managed to sit up, the fight in the other room looked as if it were nearing it's end, everyone relatively unharmed. I grabbed another elixir from Leon's stash and started to down the liquid, its burn faintly reminding me of alcohol. "It'll help my blood replenish faster," I said quietly.

"Don't push yourself. You should rest. You've done more than enough so far this trip. Let Sora handle it from here," Kairi said, leaning in and rubbing circles on my back.

"We have at least one more fight after this, Kairi. That guy is still here, beyond that Heartless. I have feeling that he's the source of the heartless here."

"Riku…"

"I need to fight this guy. He's connected to Sephiroth."

"What conne—" Another piercing scream cut through the air, causing me to jerk my head back towards the fight. Vox squirmed as he and his dragon slowly dissipated. I quickly pulled myself to my feet, shaking off my dizziness. Kairi tried to stop me but I pushed her arm away and began walking to the side of the room that led deeper into the caves.

"Riku! What are you doing? You need to rest!" Sora said, running up to me. I smiled slightly.

"I'm fine, besides, we have another, more difficult battle to fight. We need to find that guy," I said, placing my hand on the small brunette's shoulder.

"I know we need to find him, but you shouldn't fight," Sora argued.

"I need to. For myself."

"Riku, what connection do you have with Sephiroth?" Sora asked, curious eyes burrowing into mine.

"I… maybe I'll tell you some other time, Sora, but please not today. Not when things are going so well between up right now. I don't want to end up in another fight." Sora sighed.

"Fine. You can fight, but if you get injured or start bleeding again, you're going to sit out, got it?" Sora lectured. He was such a mother sometimes. I smiled broadly at him and ruffled his spiky locks.

"It's a deal then, Sora."

"Don't do that," Sora whined, pushing my hand away. That cute pout of his appeared again and I had to resist placing a kiss on his forehead… or lips… or anywhere else on his being. "It makes me feel like I'm a little kid."

"But you are a little kid, Sora. Or maybe I should say, deep in your heart you are." Sora stuck his bottom lip out a little farther at the comment. I patted his shoulder before turning away. It wouldn't do to lose control in front of everyone. I stared at the door that led further into the caves. The silver haired man had left the door slightly open. Whatever was behind the door was glowing red.

"This is the entrance to the Urssa Lava caves," Albel said from right behind me. I jumped at the unexpectedness of his presence so close. "This is the place that all members of the Dragon Brigade come to create a bond with their dragon partner. Crossel, the Marquis, resides deep within. It is likely that Vox fell long before he could even reach Crossel. If the dragons are becoming heartless, then something's happened to Crossel."

"Why do you know so much?" Kairi chimed up from somewhere behind us. "OW!"

"Kairi, he has to know so much. He's a military leader. It's only natural," Sora answered the question before Albel even had the chance to retort. I shook my head before pushing the door open.

I was met with the sight of near molten rock cave walls and pools of molten rock every once in a while. Stepping forward experimentally, I sighed when my shows didn't melt onto the rock. We were met with relatively few heartless in the winding paths, but the few that did appear were extremely good at ambushing. They were similar in basic form to the shadows but had twelve limbs and a large fanged mouth to attack with.

Finally after turning down many wrong paths and getting several burns from falling, when reached a giant set of doors. Broken molten rock surrounded the entrance, as if it was just recently smashed rather than melted as it should have been. I couldn't open the doors alone, so as a group we pushed it open. A room maybe the size of the caves that we had been wandering slowly came into view. Cautiously, we walked in.

I stopped, dead in my tracks upon seeing what was on the other side of the room. It was by far the largest dragon I'd seen so far on this world, bigger than what Maleficent had turned out when I transformed her. This beast was large enough to crush a person with his foot. Standing by the head of the dragon was the man.

"I think this it's safe to say this is Crossel, right?" Fayt said. Albel grunted in affirmative.

"It looks like that guy is hear too. This isn't going to be easy," Sora said, placing his hands behind his head.

"Even though it might be hopeless, let's try for a peaceful settlement," I said as I started walking again. The others followed. I stopped again, a fair distance from Crossel to avoid instant attack.

"Big Brother, you're still here? You're very determined to talk, aren't you? I'm sorry but Sephiroth says he doesn't want to see you yet. No, not yet," the man said, a strange grin on his lips. This guy was definitely not sane. Then again, most people who dwelled in darkness for extended periods of time weren't sane. Xehanort a prime example.

"I want to know your name. I want to know your name, so I can tell Sephiroth how good you've been when I finally see him." When dealing with the insane, play along until it is no longer possible.

"Loz. I am Loz, Big Brother. It hurts that you don't know me," the man said voice cracking slightly as if he might start crying.

"What are you here for?" I asked patiently.

"If Sephiroth doesn't want me to tell you, then I won't! One day we'll be reunited, Big Brother, and we'll all play together and be happy. All five of us. It'll be a beautiful day."

"Don't cry. It's not very manly," I said, curtly.

"No, I won't cry. Not here. Not now. Crossel, These people are here to hurt you! They want to destroy all the dragons, you know that? Kill them before they can kill you're kind!" Loz said, hysterically. Crossel rose from his seated position and flapped his wings. The ground trembled at the force of the moving giant. He made a noise somewhat similar to a roar and stepped towards us.

We scattered across the large room, now fully understanding the need for it to be so huge. Crossel stomped towards Sora and Leon. The steps rumbled the ground and threw off everyone's balance. Sora and Leon focused on Crossel's feet, the only thing they could reach. Albel moved in a zigzag towards Crossel's feet, made several cuts, then moved away. The Wicked repeated such maneuvers several times before Crossel spread his wings and began lapping down. The ground shook and we all lost our balance. Crossel took the chance and swooped in for easy attacks on Leon and Sora. I quickly cured them. It was wisest to stay as support for the moment. Crossel would eventually take a hit at everyone, but there would always need to be people to heal damage done.

Crossel turned, looking to go after Fayt and Albel. Sora managed to jump onto Crossel's unprotected back. He ran, occasionally hitting what looked like weak spots until Crossel flapped his wings again. Sora was launched into the air. I made a mad dash for the area that he would land in and got under him. He hit me hard, knocking me over as well, but at least Sora didn't face plant into the stone floor. The brunette groaned as he sat up.

"Gawd. Riku, you should get in there. My head's too spinney to fight for a while," He said. I simply nodded, leaving him as Kairi came rushing.

I called Way To Dawn and charged into battle. I slashed at the legs with everyone else, but it was seeming to get us nowhere. Crossel was slowly knocking people out of battle. First to go was Fayt, as he was hit by Crossel's moving foot. Next was Leon; he lost his balance when Crossel flapped his wings and knocked himself out on a pillar. Sora still looked out of it and Kairi was trying desperately to treat the others' wounds. Albel launched a few techniques before pulling back.

"Damn it. This…" Albel said, lunging away to regain mental and physical power.

I stared up at Crossel for a moment. He was strong, much more than what we should have been able to handle. Sizing up everything I had seen from Crossel, I knew that if I focused hard enough that I'd maybe be able to at least knock the dragon back to his right mind. I stopped and concentrated for a moment. After gathering enough energies, I jumped in the air, thankful that I'd been able to develop my own version of one of Sephiroth's attacks. Balls of dark energy filled the area and homed in on Crossel as I moved as fast as I could to hit all the vital spots I could with ten hits. It was my version of Heartless Angel.

Crossel collapsed to the ground with a loud groan. The whole room shook with the force. The rumbling had stopped when my feet touched ground, but I still couldn't hold my self up. That was my last resort move since it drained almost everything I had. Sora was soon at my side, trying to help my sit up. I gently pushed him away and rolled onto my back. My breathing refused to slow down. Sora was looking at me with a look of fear and worry, but I was smarter than to think that he was scared for my health. He was scared of the attack.

"Are you all right?" Sora asked, his voice quivering slightly.

"Where's Loz?" I asked, the thought of the crazed silverette crossing my mind now that I was not longer engaged in battle.

"I- I don't—"

"He snuck off during the chaos," Albel said coming up to us. "That attack was… How did you come up with a technique like that?"

"I copied it from Sephiroth. I learned to observe and copy my enemy's attacks. It catches them off guard," I said, barely above a breathy whisper.

"Sephiroth and Cloud disappeared several years ago in a battle, I'm guessing they returned to Radiant Garden," Sora said.

"Yeah, but separately…"

"I see. Anyway… I guess we need to find a keyhole now," Sora said.

"A keyhole?" rumbled a deep, loud voice. Sora's eyes widened as he began to look about the room franticly. The ground began to shake and rumble again.

"Oh gawd, Crossel's getting up!" Sora said, bracing himself as I tried to grip the shaking ground for comfort. Earthquake like motions were not fun.

"You are keyblade bearers?" It was now quite obvious that it was Crossel talking. If I looked over my forehead I could barely see him.

"Kyaa! He's talking!" Kairi screamed from where ever she was across the room.

"Yes, child. Do not think it very strange that you are the not the only sentient beings in the world," the large dragon snapped.

"S-sorry! I just wasn't expecting it is all!" Kairi blurted out.

"Anyway, I must thank you for snapping me out of that control."

"Haha! It's no problem!" I said, despite the fact it made me more tired. "You're really strong. It reminded us how lazy we've gotten over the years!"

"I haven't felt pain as such in several hundred years. You are worthy opponents." I laughed at the compliment.

"Several hundred years, huh? Then are you familiar with the legends of the keyblade?" Sora asked.

"Yes, I am," Crossel answered.

"We're looking for the keyhole for this world so we can lock it again," Sora informed.

"They keyhole to the world? Yes, I know where it is located. I protect it here in the Urssa Lava Temple. Several days ago I was attacked by another human child and my memory blacked out. When I came too that Silver haired whelp was here," Crossel explained to us.

"I see. Then can you let Sora at the keyhole, then?" I asked, pushing myself up to a seated position.

"It would be best to seal this world. Step up onto the platform child. The rest will happen from there," Crossel rumbled. I watched as Sora ran to where Crossel was standing before our fight. The area was filled with sunlight leaking in from above, making Sora look heavenly. The Keyhole glowed to life as Sora held out his keyblade. There the clicking of a lock and it was done.

"There. Your problems with the heartless should lessen now. At least now the world won't be destroyed," I said. I turned to Crossel. "Can you tell me more about the person who attacked you?"

"They were female and wielded a keyblade. That is all I know for she was cloaked," Crossel answered.

"Thanks. That more than we really had to go on before. We're hunting this girl down, and it helps us narrow down the search a lot," I said. Sora was going over to Kairi where Fayt and Leon were waking up.

"It is no problem but I am tired now. I suggest you leave and rest up. You have a long journey to prepare for." I nodded and forced myself on my shaky feet.

"Hey, Sora, Leon, Kairi! How does a hot meal before we leave sound?"

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We made the long and horrible trek down the mountains and back to Kirsla. By the time we had reached the gates to the town I was too weak to continue on. I had all of my energy fighting Crossel and what little was left after that on the way back. My legs gave out just as we entered.

"Riku!" Kairi exclaimed as she watched me fall. She was too weak in the arms carry me so she shoved Sora at me. "Sora, help him walk." Sora sighed and moved to scoop me up, placing my arm over his shoulder and grabbing the belt of my pants.

"Heh… It's like a blast to the past," I murmured as I moved forward, leaning uncomfortably because of the height difference.

"Yeah. But the situation this time is completely different this time," Sora whispered back.

"Yeah. I don't have a life threatening wound and you're with her…" I whispered back even quieter.

"I love her. I did everything for her. Not to mention she wanted to see you again too. You were best friend and mine," came Sora's reply, just as quiet.

"I'm starting to regret ever coming back with."

"That's stupid."

"I know. It would have been stupid. But if I had stayed I'd be numb now, and I wouldn't care if you were with Kairi or not."

"It's not healthy to block out emotions."

"I'm not healthy in general."

"What are you two whispering about?" Kairi asked, falling instep beside us.

"Nothing really important. Just my symptoms," I covered quickly.

"Oh, I see," she said. When we entered the manor, Sora lugged me up the stairs and into Albel's room. He kicked the door closed behind him and dropped me on the bed.

"How many scars did you get today?" Sora asked, his voice void of emotion.

"I don't know…" I said quietly, looking in his eyes. He was starting to scare me and his eyes weren't helping. It was as if there was a torrent trapped in those orbs.

"Let me see," the brunette said, bending down and grabbing the zipper on my shirt. When he started to pull down I freaked and grabbed his hand. He stared into my eyes and demanded, "Let me see."

I released my grip and let him pull the zipper down until my chest and stomach were completely revealed. He ghosted his hands over my stomach causing shivers to run down my spine. His hand stopped over a rather large and faded scar on my left side.

"That's the one from Xemnas, isn't it? I remember all the guys in the locker freaked when they saw it."

"Yeah, it is," I choked out. Sora's hand returned to wandering. It stopped again over a new scar. There were several going down from it, all circular in shape. The puncture wounds from Vox. Now wonder the hurt. They were in line with my lungs, liver, and kidney, despite the fact I had no difficulty breathing.

"These are from being reckless today. And then that attack that took all of your strength. My gawd, Riku. Are you suicidal or something?" Sora said, voice dripping with accusation and horror.

"I-i…" I stammered, barely above a whisper. I was better off dead than with Sephiroth. Sora would never love me, and I would always be ignored in the long run.

"It's because of me, isn't it?" Sora asked, tears welling in those beautiful blue orbs.

"S-sora…"

"Riku, I'm so sorry," Sora cried, the first tear falling. He reached forward, wrapping his arms around me and buried his face in my stomach. I stiffened at the feeling. "I don't know what I'd do if I consciously knew my best friend was dead. Not to mention Kairi would be a complete wreck. Gawd, I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Sora," I murmured, wrapping my arms around him. I was trembling at having him so close for the first time in years. I wanted to kiss the tears away, but I knew it would only make things worse.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through this pain," Sora cried, nuzzling deeper into my stomach. I felt suddenly insulted by the statement and pushed Sora away.

"I don't need pity, Sora. I've told you. I'll be fine. I'll work it out." Zipping up my shirt, I looked Sora in the eye. "Dry your face and go eat something. And tell Leon to bring me something to eat too."

Sora slowly nodded but backed off all the same. He whipped his face off and after a moment slowly stood and left. This was going to be one hell of a long journey.

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We left Elicoor in the morning after another hot meal. Albel and Fayt not taking much care at our going, considering we couldn't get them out of Woltar's bedroom. I was stiff all over from the fight, and Leon had this look about him that just screamed lack of sleep. Kairi was perched on Sora's lap again, and they were whispering sweet nothings in each other's ears again. I tried to ignore the couple as much as I could but it was failing horribly. I was actually glad when the next world came into sight.

I teleported us down without warning again and Kairi yet again screeched when her back hit the ground, Sora on top of her. This time, instead of thick snow, we were greeted by thick mud and holes in the ground. The red haired girl screeched again when she realized what she had exactly landed in. I chuckled lightly and turned away. I didn't want to invoke Kairi's wrath when she was covered in mud like that. Sora eventually scrambled off the girl and helped her up. Kairi began grumpily scraping the mud from her clothing.

"This place had had a lot of trees cut down recently," Leon observed. I glanced around and saw his words were true.

"I wonder if there's a village near by. Should we split up again?" I asked.

"No! We are not splitting up so soon!" Kairi said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Alright. Fine. We'll find a place for her highness to clean off before splitting up. How about that?" I proposed. Kairi huffed and began walking off into the woods. The rest of looked up into the sky before staring after Kairi.

"Uuuuh… Kairi, I think Civilization's the other way," Sora said, pointing in the opposite direction that Sora was walking. She stopped where she stood.

"How do you know that?" she asked, indignantly.

"There's smoke coming from that direction," Leon answered for Sora.

"Oh. I knew that…" Kairi giggled, embarrassedly.

"Riiight." Sora teased.

"Come on. Let's go check it out," I said, waving us towards the smoke.

We moved out of the forest into an area completely cleared of wood and deep, hand dug holes. The mud was getting worse and pretty soon a wooden wall came into view. There armored head at a rounded corner in the wall baring some form of guns. As we neared the settlement, the guns were pointed directly at us, and the guards began shouting.

"Stop right 'ere!" one yelled.

"Come any closer and we'll shoot!" called another. I calmly lifted my hands into the air.

"Look, we've come here looking for information! We'd like to know where the hell we are," I said, stepping forward.

"I'm warning you!" yelled the first man.

"Look, are you having problems with black creatures that are insanely good fighters?" I asked, shifting my weight to one hip and taking on a bored expression.

"H-how did you know?" the second man cried.

"They're plaguing the area. Not just this place but all over the world. We'd kind of appreciate being let in some place safe before they devour us alive," I said.

"Well they don't have skin and hair like them savages," the second man said, turning to the first.

"Alright, let 'em in. Go around to that wall o'er 'ere and tell 'em Peter says you can come in. Come back over 'ere when you get in. Don't want you running amuck in the place," the first man said.

I nodded and motioned the to follow closely as we walked to the gate. This was going to be yet another interesting world. I could feel it in my gut.

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**Author's Note:** So we are not officially off Elicoor. XD **First three reviewers get a lime/lemon to the pair of their choosing. First reviewer getting the lemon, second and third getting limes. **Anyway. This is where the plot starts getting down and dirty. I tried to show a little nicer side to Kairi, s well as her more irritable side. Sora's just kind of being the Sora I've turned him into…. And Leon's been…. Leon. XD Haha.


	8. Jamestown

**Author's Note:** So I watched Pocahontas again… and almost fell out of my chair laughing at how inaccurate it is. I live about an hour or two from the site of Jamestown and know for a fact that the area doesn't look anything like that. There aren't even mountains as far inland as I am. Aside from that, I guess I can forgive most of its inaccuracies. The movie used to be one of my favorites, but I guess it never clicked that it took place where I lived. Pocahontas Park is actually really close to where I live, so it's really shocking that I didn't realize. The story provides something really meaningful for me I guess, which is why I'm including it, I guess, even if the stay there is really short.

Anyway, this is where the story starts taking its true, true form. There isn't a lot of humor, and it's really dark. I'm going to need lots of support from here on out to continue getting this out at fast.

JYAAA… Thankies go to david keck, frayed soul, and StoopidMonkey for reviewing. Please, review again or contact me to claim your prizes. You will get the prize in that order, first being first, third being third.

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The men in the small village were rowdy but kind. They had taken us in, given us shelter in a tent, sent us some rather disgusting food, and finally directed Kairi to the nearest source of water to wash the drying mud off. Sora had taken off with her, for protection reasons, while Leon and I stayed back and talked with the men. It took us maybe four minutes of being within the walls to notice that Kairi was the _only_ female in the place. After about an hour, a blonde man poked his head into the tent. He was rather handsome, well muscled, and dressed in armor.

"Ah, you must be those guys that wandered in. I heard there were four of you?" the blonde asked, taking off the odd shaped helmet.

"That's right. Our friend fell in the mud earlier, and she's very finicky about being dirty like that," I replied, leaning back.

"Ha! Sounds like some of the women back in England. My name is John Smith," He said, sitting down himself. He offered his hand to me and I briefly shook it as I replied.

"I'm Riku." After he withdrew his hand, he offered it to Leon. The tall brunette shook it with a curt nod.

"Leon," he stated simply.

"You have strange coloring, Riku. Where are you from?" John said.

"I guess for my age and around here I do. We've all come from really far off searching for something," I said, not bothered in the slightest by the comment.

"Aren't we all. If it's gold you're looking for, there is none. Trust me. We've searched," John replied.

"That's the farthest thing from what we're searching for," Leon snorted.

"What he means to say is: We're not after riches. Are you familiar with any rumors here? Or any legends about the land?" I asked.

"I'm so sure about legends and what not, but there have been these strange beasts. About a week after we got here they started showing up. There were only a few at first but then people started disappearing and they suddenly started multiplying like rabbits," John said, glancing at the entrance to the tent. "Most of the men are saying that the Indians are using some kind of witch craft to summon them against us."

"These are those dark creatures, right? The Heartless. You sound doubtful about their origins," Leon said.

"Yeah. The Heartless, you say? I don't think the Indians are making them."

"Why do you say that. The men around camp seem to have a really bad attitude towards them," I commented.

"We were attacked not long after setting up camp by the Indians, or at least they thought they were. I wasn't there. Something happened and the men were firing bullets and arrows left and right. But I met one of these savages and really got to talking with her. They really want to fight us, but both sides feel threatened and they won't listen to us. They claim they haven't had problems with the Heartless for hundreds of years until we came. They're saying that the white man brought them here," John explained, sighing exasperatedly.

"You've befriended an Indian girl? What's her name? Can we speak to her?" I fired off quickly.

"Whoa! Slow down there. Her name is Pocahontas. Yes, you can meet her. I can take you to her tonight. We'll have to sneak out, but I doubt that it'll be much of a problem," John said.

"Good. These Indians are the native people here right? They'll surely know what we're looking for," I said, looking at Leon.

"Don't get your hopes up, kid," Leon said, staring at John. We lapsed into silence for a few moments until the tent flap was wrenched open and a rather flustered looking Sora and Kairi entered.

"Ohmigawd, I'm not leaving this place again," Kairi said as she plopped down. Sora followed her to the ground.

"We got attacked by these really tan guys that barely had clothes on while at the river. Kairi almost got an arrow in her neck. Then on the way back we were attacked by Heartless. It was those damn spider ones again too. They're so hard to fight," Sora filled in.

"It sounds like the Indians," John said. Sora and Kairi looked up at John, startled. Slowly Sora extended his hand.

"Ehheh. Sorry about that. Name's Sora, and this is my fiancé Kairi," Sora offered.

"It' alright. I'm John Smith."

"He claims to know someone that can really help out in our quest. You and Leon can go out and meet her tonight. I'll stay here with Kairi," I said.

"I'm _not_ leaving you here with Kairi," Sora pouted.

"Its not like I'm going to steal her away. You need more practice Sora. Not to mention Kairi doesn't want to leave. She and I can stay here and talk to all the settlers."

"Uhg. Fine, Riku. You win," Sora groaned.

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It was after dusk when Sora and Leon finally left with John Smith to go see Pocahontas. I'd quickly learned to refer to John by his full name. Of the men within the walls, there were fifteen Johns. There were also ten Thomases, twelve Peters and four Jameses. It was almost disturbing in a way. I forced myself to learn all their names for ease of communication.

Kairi and I began making rounds, talking to all of the men. We were looking for any legends or information they'd picked up. Needless to say, Kairi was able to get much more information out of the sex starved men. All she had to do was squish her breast together, blink, and act cute, and they'd pour they guts out. It wasn't anything much different from what she normally did, so I didn't argue much. Kairi _was_ a bit of a flirt by nature.

I, on the other hand was getting stuck with boring tales about how England was concurring the world through all sorts of devious means. After the fifth time of being told the same stories, I decided I didn't ever want to go to this world's England. After an hour and a half, I snagged Kairi and took her back to John Smith's tent. We were going to stay there since the captain had a bigger tent.

"So tell me what you found out," I said, taking a seat.

"Not much," Kairi said, stretching her arms into the air. "Just that they had this legend about a boy who was able to wield a powerful sword that looked like a key. He used the power to make all the people submit to him and became their ruler. There was more, but I can't really remember it. I got it out of some of the older men."

"That's good. At least we know they have legends here about the keybladers. I was only getting stuff about nights at round tables and stuff like that. England's very violent. Nothing like the England I associate with Neverland," I said.

"I was… there in Neverland with you, wasn't I?" the red head asked quietly.

"Yeah. You were. You were my personal prisoner, I'm sorry about that."

"Oh hush up. Sora explained everything to me. Not to mention you helped us escape. I don't think anyone can blame you for anything. The Darkness was messing with your head, after all." Kairi took a seat next to me.

"Thank you, Kairi. That means a lot," I whispered. The girl smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, tell me about Neverland. Sora says you can fly there!"

"I never flew, but then again hey had an annoying little fairy on their side," I chuckled quietly. Before I knew it, I was recounting an abridged and very edited version of my experiences in Neverland. Soon the flap of the tent opened and Leon, Sora, and John Smith filed in.

"Oh! Sora, you're back! How'd it go?" Kairi chimed, jumping up to hug Sora.

"We got attacked on the way there and back, but Pocahontas looks like she'll be a big help. She says her people know so much more," Sora said, sweeping Kairi up into his arms as he swung her around.

"Riku, we need to talk," Leon said, not moving far from the entrance. "Let's go to the river."

"Uhm… Alright," I agreed hesitantly. I rose to my feet and followed Leon to the gates. He nodded to the guard and we left without much fuss. We fought off the occasional Heartless, but other wise had a quiet journey. When we reached the river, Leon sat down close to the bank of the murky water. It was so different from Destiny Islands' and Radiant Garden's water.

"Pocahontas said that her people are suffering terribly between the Heartless and the English," Leon said after a long silence.

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked, looking over at him.

"No. Not really. But I'd thought I'd try some other conversation before we began that pecking process of getting the information you want from me." I laughed at the brunette's words.

"You should just spill it then," I said, scooting closer to him.

"He reminds me of Cloud," he said. I was shocked speechless for a moment. I hadn't exactly thought that Leon would give up that information so willingly.

"Cloud reminds me of him," I said after a moment. "It was torture."

"Riku…"

"Hmmm?"

"Sora's getting stronger again," Leon whispered as he moved in and kissed my cheek.

"You sure we should do this here?" I asked quietly before moving my lips to catch Leon's.

"The worst that could happen would be us getting kicked out of Jamestown," Leon said when he broke the kiss. It wasn't long, though, until his lips were back on mine and his hand started playing with my hair.

"Go live with… the Indians, then?" I managed before Leon slid his tongue into my mouth. Slowly, I was pushed back onto the ground. After a moment the brunette pulled away from my lips, trailing down my neck. I arched into him as he bit down on one of the sensitive spots on my shoulder. He harshly ground his hips down on mine.

"L-leon," I gasped. "W-we shouldn't. If we're g-gone too long they'll get suspicious. Besides, I thought we were weaning me off sex?" Leon sighed and pulled away.

"You can be really frustrating sometimes." I only chuckled in reply.

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I was awoken at sunrise by the men getting up to go log wood for their homes. Leon was already up and Sora was rubbing at his eyes. Kairi was sleeping like a log, still. I pushed myself into a seated position and stared at Leon. He nodded slightly to me. With some reassurance, I stood up and walked over to him.

"We should go and scope out the place," the brunette said quietly, as to not wake Kairi.

"Yeah. That sounds good. Maybe we'll run into the Indians," I said, stepping closer. Leon looked so different when I looked down at him, compared to him leaning over me.

"I doubt it, but you never know. Let's go before it gets too hot," Leon said, grabbing my wrist. He was dragging me out of the tent when I glanced back at Sora. He was giving us a weird looked. I smile sheepishly.

"Go back to sleep, Sora. We'll be back later." With that, I was yanked from the tent and into the bustling settlement. People were raising houses slowly, already getting to the days needed work. Leon led me out of the wooden walls and into the woods.

"We'll follow the river. That way it'll be easier to get back to Jamestown," the brunette said. I chuckled.

"It feels weird adventuring like this. In Elicoor everything just kinda unfolded for us. Now we have to search all over the place. I never had to do this seven years ago."

"You were on a different side. But I'm not used to this either. I watched from the sidelines then. It feels weird being out here," the older man said.

"It's because you're actually out doing something. You're actually out looking for Cloud this time. I'm proud of you. You've really come a long way." I placed my hands behind my head and stared up at the sky. There were less heartless around today than there was at night.

"So have you," Leon murmured, looking up at me. We had approached the river and had been walking along it for the longest time when I spotted a figure standing by the river.

"Hey, do you think that that's one of the natives?" I asked, pointing to the figure.

"I don't think so. I think it's wearing black. The natives here wear animal hides," Leon replied. I frowned and quickened my pace. Dirty blonde hair came into view and I knew for certain that it wasn't a native. They were descried as having black hair. They were leaning over the water, doing something I couldn't see. We were able to get another few meters closer before I recognized him.

"O-oh man. I was really hoping I wouldn't run into you guys for a while," a somewhat timid voice said. I glared at the man.

"Demyx. So you're here too? What about Axel?" I spat.

"Axel's off doing other things. What he's doing is no concern of yours. Look, I really don't want to be here right so… If you don't mind me…" Demyx darted off up stream, a wall of water raising from the river to try and block us. I slide under it and jetted after Demyx at full sped. Water clones were attacking me, but I summoned Way To Dawn and slashed them off. By the time Demyx stopped running, we were standing on rocks in front of a giant waterfall. Fuck. I was in his territory and Leon was nowhere in sight.

"You just don't give up, do you? Look, I _really_ don't want to fight you. I'm here for Sora, not you," Demyx said, calling his sitar.

"You're not here for Sora. You're here for Roxas, aren't you?" I said, glaring.

"Yeah. I guess I am," Demyx said before calling large bubbles of water to rain down on me. I blocked as many as I could but the occasional one still hit me. I charged Demyx, managing six blows before he jumped back and swung his sitar so it would hit me in the head. I stumbled back on the rock I was perched on. Quickly, I jumped on to a rock that was behind me before lunging again. Demyx dodged back onto the water where he stood on the rushed, swirling surface.

I growled before casting lightning on him. He jumped into the air and strummed on his sitar, calling "Dance water, Dance!!" I cursed as I jumped back to a slightly higher rock. Water was raising up from the river forming water clones, hundreds of them. I began slashing, but got nowhere. Out of desperation, I grabbed a clone and swung it into several others, destroying them all instantly. The ones that were left moved in to fill the gap. I charged them, occasionally using one as a weapon. Demyx was somewhere beyond my vision, playing his sitar. The numbers were lessening, but it didn't do much to ease my nerves. I was surrounded by Demyx's element.

When the last water clone rejoined the river, Demyx charged me, spike of water shooting up from beneath his steps. I tried to dodge both him and the water, but he was agile and cut in close to me before rushing out. I was hit by the water and fell into the river. When I tried to get up, I couldn't move. Demyx stood over me, playing softly on his sitar.

"I don't know why you insist on being so over protective over him. He obviously doesn't feel the same about you," Demyx said just loud enough to be heard over the waterfall behind us.

"Shut up!!" I yelled, beginning to struggle in the water's hold.

"I saw you with Leon last night. I wonder what Sora would think if he knew," the dirty blonde said, a smirk starting to form on his lips. "He feels sorry for you, yet I bet he really hates you deep inside. He told Axel as much when they were fighting."

"How do you know what he said in Axel's fight?" I yelled, not believing a word he was saying. I finally managed to break free of the water and lunged up at the annoying Nobody. He stumbled back, dropping his sitar. My fist made contact with his face. He shoved me off and grabbed for his sitar.

"Dance water! Dance!" he called as he began a frantic stream of chords. The water clones rose up again. I tried to ignore them and go straight for Demyx, but it was no use. There weren't as many as last time, but they were still completely blocking my path. Not to mention they were all drifting two feet above me in the water's surface. I was at a disadvantage. I began hacking at the clones again, making my way over to the rocks. The last one dissolved as I tried to climb onto a rock. To my dismay, however, I couldn't pull myself from the water.

"You should just give up on Sora, you know. He'll never like you back that way," Demyx called from near the waterfall. I growled and turned from the rock. As I attempted to move forward, the water rose in large walls stopping my path. I was able to run around or break through them. Finally I reached the Nobody. Demyx sent streams of water pillars at me, but I dodged to the left. With Way To Dawn in my hands, I was able to strike Demyx several more times before he wiggled out of my grasp again.

I lunged at him, but a large wave rose up at his feet and forced me under the water. I gasped for water and attempted to rise to the surface. I couldn't breathe and frantically struggled. I reached for the surface of the water, only to find that I couldn't penetrate it. My luck was horrible. If I didn't manage to get out soon, I'd manage to drown in about three feet of water. It would be a pathetic way to day. Suddenly a hand shot down from the surface and gripped my neck. I was jerked out of the water and brought up o meet Demyx's face. I wanted to cough and sputter and throw up water but Demyx's tight grip was preventing that.

"I told you, I didn't want to fight you," he said quietly. He tossed me back and my head cracked against something hard—most likely a rock. A horrible pain coursed through my head as my world slowly faded black.

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When I opened my eyes again, I saw long strands of black hair moving back and forth in my blurry vision. I groaned as I tried to sit but. Gentle hands pushed me back onto the ground. I groaned in annoyance before muttering, "Leon?"

"Leon?" a warm and feminine voice chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I'm not Leon." I blinked a few more times before my vision cleared up enough. Leaning over me was a beautiful woman that held some features similar to the Chinese, but her skin was much, much darker. Her hair was black and was spilling out all over the place. "You must be one of them. I've never seen anyone like you, even among the white men" she said, stroking my hair.

"Who are you?" I asked, batting her hand away. She smiled down at me.

"I am Pocahontas. And you?"

"Riku," I said, trying to sit up again. Pocahontas pushed me down again.

"So you are one of them. Look, you need to stay lying down. When that man left and I came to check on you, I found you're head bleeding. I managed to stop the bleeding, but I doubt you'll be able to sit up without falling back."

"So you saw the fight?"

"Yes, I did. That… was amazing. I've never seen anyone fight quite like that. My people use bows and arrows and spears. The white men use guns. But you and him…"

"It's too hard to explain at the moment," I said, trying o shift into more comfortable position.

"I understand. That looked like a hard battle, and you were injured. Please rest up and tell me later." I nodded almost dumbly as I began to eye my surroundings. I was still near the river and there was a dog wrestling with a raccoon over some kind of food.

"Riku!" I heard a familiar deep voice call. Soon I was wrenched up from the ground and pulled into a strong embrace. Hissing, I tried to push the body away; the jerk had caused the pain in my head to flare. I blinked up only to realize that it was Leon that was hugging me.

"Well if this isn't completely uncharacteristic," I mumbled. Slowly Leon lowered me back to the ground and looked away.

"I was worried. I couldn't get past the wall in time and was attacked by water clones. What happened to you?" The older man asked.

"I followed Demyx here and we fought. He managed to knock me out against a rock and ran away," I answered.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay much longer. Please, take this, Riku. It should help with the pain. Please, come see me tonight. I would like to talk more," Pocahontas said, handing something to Leon before standing.

"We'll be sure to come," Leon said, forcing my mouth open. He didn't give me a chance to look at the medicine but it was horrible tasting. I swallowed it anyway, hoping that she was right.

"Good. I wish for you to meet someone who might know the answers to your questions," Pocahontas said. The raccoon that was fighting with the dog scrambled up onto her shoulder.

"Alright. I'll definitely be there," I said, cracking a small smile. She ran off into the woods after waving goodbye. Leon and I sat in silence for a while before he pulled me up into a sitting position.

"Come on. Let's get back to Jamestown."

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The sun was setting outside. Kairi was out talking with the men about getting us a tent or two so we wouldn't be a bother to John Smith anymore. Leon and John Smith were out patrolling the fence. It was an hour after sunset and only about an hour or so until I needed to leave with Leon to go see Pocahontas again. Sora was sitting beside me, reading one of John Smith's books. I, on the other hand, was contenting myself just looking at him.

The silence was slowly getting to me. Finally, I had enough of it and tore the book from Sora's grasp. The brunette pouted, sending the best glare he could at me. I chuckled a little, flipping through it before tossing it with the other books.

"Hey, what was that for?" Sora asked, moving to get the book. I grabbed his arm before he could reach it.

"Well, I guess I'm kind of offended. That's all. My best friend is sitting in here reading a book when we could be talking," I said, trying to pull of a pout but failing miserably. Sora sighed and wrenched his arm away.

"Maybe I just don't feel like talking to you," he snapped. My jaw was open, I knew it. Those were some of the harshest words he'd said to me, ever. It felt as if my nightmares were coming true.

"You don't mean that," I said, a bit breathy. "You know our problems won't solve themselves if we can't heal our friendship."

"I… I just don't know what to do with you anymore, Riku." I sighed and stepped closer to Sora, cupping his cheek. He gained a look of fear in his eyes, but I ignored it.

"Then let me try to fix everything." I leaned forward enough to place a soft kiss on Sora's forehead.

"Riku…" Sora practically breathed. I don't know if it was the fact that I was hit on the head, or if it was the fact that I knew my enemy could kill me if they really wanted to, or if it was the knowledge that someday I might not be able to see Sora ever again, but I couldn't hold back.

"I love you, and I want to make it all perfect for you," I whispered as I leaned further down, closer to his lips. "So, let me have this one last indulgence?" I pressed my lips firmly to his. After a short moment I kissed his cheek, ear, next to his eye, and trailed kisses down his neck. Just as I placed my hands on his hips, I was thrust away violently.

"Enough, Riku. I can't take it anymore. Make up your mind? Are you going to get over me? Are you going to continue this? Or are you going to try to get in Leon's pants again?" Sora snapped.

"Wh-what? S-sora…"

"I saw you and Leon last night. Kairi bugged me to check on you guys after you were gone for thirty minutes. Is that why Leon came along? To help you get over me? If it is, that's really selfish, Riku."

"He's not here because of me. He's looking for Cloud."

"Cloud? But you guys know where he is!"

"No, we don't! He disappeared shortly before you showed up. Leon loves him, he just hasn't admitted it to anybody yet."

"So why are you two sleeping together? It's wrong to do that!"

"We're fuck buddies, so what?" I hissed. "There's nothing wrong with that. Guys in the military do it all the time!"

"This isn't the military."

"Yeah. I know. It's still not a big deal."

"You disgust me." I blanched at that, taking a step back. "You're not Riku. There's no way you're Riku. At least, you're not the Riku I remember. I'm really starting to hate what you've become."

"You don't really mean, that, do you?" I couldn't look at him any longer. I'd turned my face away and let my hair fall over my eyes.

"Yeah. I really do. You're scary when you fight, you're suicidal, you're sleeping with guys that have crazy fetishes, and you've been doing _Leon_. I don't think I can look at you the same again. And on top of that, you still like me. I can feel your eyes on me and it really creeps me out. I just wish you'd never told me you liked me." I was trembling by now, fists at my side. The nails were digging so deeply into my palm that I could feel warm blood coating them.

"I'm sorry I'm not the Riku you remember. But I will make everything perfect for you. I promise. The one thing that is still definitely the same is that I still keep my word." Taking a deep, shaky breath, I continued, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go see Pocahontas."

I pushed past him and out the tent. I headed in the opposite direction of where I was supposed to meet John Smith and Leon. Sneaking out of one o the holes in the wooden walls, I found myself deep in the woods. I had no intentions of going to see the Indian girl anymore. I couldn't handle being around any of them at the moment.

If I thought about I, really thought about it, I was just being used or was practically useless. Leon wanted me around for sex. To Kairi I was just another expendable friend. Sora found me nothing but a burden on his mind. When I reached the river, I contemplated drowning myself. I fell to my knees on the rocky shore. The first tears in years breaking free and spilling down my cheeks.

Gripping the rocks, something sharp cut deeply into my palm. I brought the fist full of pebbles up and examined them. Among them was an arrowhead. After dropping the pile back on the ground, I carefully lifted the arrowhead. It wasn't until the tip of it was on the skin of my wrist, poised to slash the length of my forearm, that I blanched. I lent forward, forehead touching the ground, arrowhead to my blood vessel, sobbing uncontrollably. I couldn't even kill myself this way. Then the thought of using Way To Dawn crossed my mind. I quickly crossed that out because of the repercussions.

Finally, I pressed the tip of the arrowhead as deep as I could, dragging it slowly up my arm. Before I was even halfway, a hand rested on my shoulder. I jerked and looked up. Demyx was standing there, looking at me understandingly.

"Come on now. That's a really unfair way to go. You'll hurt too many people's feelings," he whispered as he got down on my level.

"Maybe only Leon's, at most," I managed. Demyx pulled me to his chest. I didn't have the energy to fight him.

"Look, you can't die now. You're too important. The universe will mourn you." I shook my head against. "Our offer is still open, you know. We may not have real hearts, but we'll care for you more than they ever could."

"You… want…. to use me."

"No. Sephiroth wants to use you. And you aren't doing anyone any good acting with out knowledge like Sora is. We want to help you, protect you. You can't die. Everyone needs you. Some just haven't realized it yet. We'll take the pain away."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, pushing myself away from Demyx slightly. He looked my in the eye.

"Because. I'm better at expressing the truth in words than Axel is. If Axel were here, you'd already be dead."

"I think I'll take you up on that offer." Demyx smiled slightly.

"Good." The dirty blonde moved a bit before pulling out a black robe, pants, and boots. "Let's start by leaving everything behind.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

**Author's Note:** So… yeah… Sora was like… soooo OOC. But yeah. Riku's not gonna be around for a while, just to let yall know.


	9. Virginia

**Author's Note:** So yeah... Here's the next wonderful chapter. It's told more from Sora's perspective than anything else… Anyway, other than that, I really have nothing to say, so on to the reviews.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!

brightmoon13—Haha. Don't' worry. I don't think this'll ever take more then two to three weeks to update. I'm working on another fic now and am going to post the chapters alternating.

Is Simple—That'd be pretty cool. I'll take you on for next chapter, but I'll need your email. Leon is actually one of the important characters, which doesn't come for a little while yet... I'm flattered that you go through all that shit to review for me. It really raises your cool person status in my eyes. But to be honest, I don't write for the reviews. I write to write, then sit back and laugh at the comments, and then try to incorporate things from the reviews.

jkl—uh, I'm not so sure it's that good. But it might get there eventually. Too early to tell really.

Smiley Smackdown—I hope this chapter gives a little more insight. But I kind of agree. Sora really is way out there. I plan to make it more reasonable later. But I live of angst too! I swear, I base how good a story is by how close it gets me to crying.

PhinMaginONLY—Haha. Riku is the main character; of _course_ he's going to be mentioned. And I do hope this changes your mind somewhat about Sora so far.

Ocean blue eyes fluttered open slowly to the noise that was growing outside the tent. Sora subconsciously pulled the lithe body next to him closer, and closed his eyes again. His attempt at sleep was foiled, though, when the urge to pee over took almost every cell in his being. He groaned and pushed away from Kairi, getting up to leave the tent. On his way back from relieving himself, he groggy young man was grabbed roughly on his shoulder. Sora yelped. The brunette carefully turned around, only to be greeted by hard, grey eyes.

"Uuummm… Good Morning?" the younger brunette squeaked as he sunk back. There was something about the way Leon looked that sent warning bells off in his head.

"Did Riku go to you're tent last night?" The older brunette asked, crossing his arms and resting his weight on one foot.

"No. I haven't seen him since he left to go meet up with you guys. Not even after Kairi came and took me to our own tent," Sora said, looking around the camp. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you think Kairi might have seen him?" Leon pushed on, ignoring Sora's question.

"No possible way. She was with me, and we were a little occupied," Sora said, getting a little impatient. "Now tell me already. You're starting to freak me out."

"Riku never made it to the meeting place," Leon deadpanned. At this news Sora's mouth dropped open. "Did he… give you anything?"

"N-no. He didn't," Sora said, confused as to what Riku giving him anything had to do with the silverette's disappearance. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Never mind. I'm sure he'll turn up," Leon said turning around and walking towards the gates. Sora sighed, turning back towards the ten when he heard someone calling loud and clear across the settlement.

"I found his clothes! I found his clothes!" Sora looked back and caught Leon running towards the man that was waving his hands in the air. Sora's stomach clenched as his feet began to move in the same direction despite how much he didn't want to go over there.

"Did you find anything else with these clothes?" Leon questioned the man.

"Yeah," the man said. "On a nearby tree there was a message carved really deep. It simply said: 'For Sora's perfect world. Forget about the current me and love the me of yesterday.' There was an arrow pointing down. And in between the tree roots I found this!" The man dug into his pockets and produced a gold ring. Sora stepped up to the man and snatched the ring from him. On closer examination he could see that the stone on the top was swirled black with white and the band was engraved with moogle language. It seemed to be leaking great amounts of energy.

The ring was quickly snatched from his hand. Sora glared up at Leon before his hand was grabbed and Leon placed the ring on Sora's right ring finger. A sudden wave of deep depression, fear, and darkness washed over him. The feeling was strong enough to make him shutter. After it had gone by, it didn't completely disappear. Sora stared up at Leon with large eyes.

"Riku is as good as dead to us," the older said after a moment. Sora's mouth fell open for a second time that day.

"Why the hell would you say that?" Sora asked, beginning to get very scared. Leon glared at the younger brunette and grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him back towards his tent. Kairi poked her head out.

"Sora? Leon?" she questioned, stepping all the way out. Leon ignored her and shoved Sora inside, following close behind.

"What happened in the time that I left you alone with him?" Leon asked, his voice lacking emotion. However, anyone that knew Leon well enough knew that it was his eyes that expressed his true emotions while talking. The older brunette had a good mask, but strong emotions leaked out every once in a while, and Sora could see anger, fear, and hurt in those eyes.

"W-we got in a fight," Sora answered simply.

"Another? What did you say this time?" Leon snapped, anger leaking into his voice.

"Oh fuck," Sora said, realization dawning upon him. It was his fault. "Shit. It's my fault he ran off."

"What did you say?" Leon reiterated, pulling Sora close by the collar. Sora, scared to death, spilled it all.

"I-I said I hated him. I said I hated what he's become and what he's been doing and that he likes me… I…"

"That certainly explains the message he left," Leon said, frowning deeply.

"I saw you and him the other night, and I over reacted. I blamed him for trying to seduce you…"

"_I_ came on to _him_, Sora. And we didn't even get that far. We stopped at tongue fucking. And the few times we have had intercourse, we were piss ass drunk. We sucked each other off on Elicoor and made out a few times, but that's about it for this trip. And every time we did something was because he didn't want to jump you and rape you," Leon deadpanned. Sora's mouth dropped open again as he processed the information. "We never forced each other to do something when the other didn't want it. We were fuck buddies only."

"I… blamed him for what he's become…"

"You directly influenced the early influences of his change, you know that, right? He's been cutting since he was fourteen. You wouldn't believe the things he's been hiding from you because of the way you dealt with him being gay. He finally did the smart thing and removed himself from his problem, only to be scolded for it later. And you can't even imagine what he went through in Radiant Garden."

Sora was shocked by the revelations Leon was laying on him. Riku had been cutting himself? On top of being reckless in battle? Riku had run away from his problems instead of facing them, but Sora was just now beginning to see why. Riku couldn't be himself. Sora clenched his fists as he replied, "Try me."

"You remember that girlfriend that he broke up with right before you got here?" Leon asked, a look of pain crossing his features.

"Yeah. I know, it was a guy."

"Not just any guy. Sephiroth." Sora's jaw almost fell to the floor. He stared up at Leon in disbelief.

"Se-sephiroth? H-how…"

"I don't know the details, but I know they were training together for a short while before they slept together. That was all their relationship was. Sex and training. Training and Sex. He'd go to Aerith to be healed. The injuries that he received from that bastard were always severe. It was a miracle that he could even walk afterwards."

"That's where all those scars came from?" Sora asked, horrified.

"Yes. The day before you arrived, I saw him at Aerith's. I was looking for Cloud. He came in hiding a limp and there were nasty wounds peaking out from his clothes. And the few times I was ever in his apartment, there was blood in the oddest places. Not to mention his sheets were covered in it and there was absolutely no food in the place."

"Oh gawd," Sora whispered.

"He mentioned once that he wasn't ever hungry after being with Sephiroth. I told him to break it off with that man. He was addicted to him, Sora. And we have no fucking clue if he's with Sephiroth or not. All we do know is that he's not coming back to us, ever. He might as well be dead to us."

"Oh gawd," a soft feminine voice whispered, pulling the two men's attention away from each other.

"Kairi…" Sora said, reaching a hand out to her. She shook her head, bringing her hands to cover her mouth as she tried to hold back tears.

"How much have you two been hiding from me?" Kairi asked. They both knew immediately that she wasn't talking about Leon, but Riku.

"I've only been hiding what Riku's told me to," Sora said desperately.

"And you guys didn't think it was important to tell me that Riku was _gay_? Or that he was really that depressed because _he loved you_?" she snapped. "I thought he was just over reacting about being left out more and more as we were dating more, Sora. Or that he was jealous that I went out with you instead of him. If I knew he was depressed over that, I would have tried to _help_ him. It sounds like you just _ignored_ him completely!"

"Kairi—"

"How can he even stand to still call you a best friend?" she asked, horrified.

"He was dating every gay guy that he could! I bet he even slept with Tidus! He knew that he was gay already. I thought he was dealing with it."

"Sora, that is _not_ a good way to deal with it. That's substitution. That is the one way to make everybody hurt worse in the end! Like now!" Kairi almost screeched.

"Both of you, just shut up!" Leon said, firmly. "No use crying over something that happened almost _five years_ ago. But I do hope you realize that you inadvertently made Riku turn back to the darkness. You're going to have to take responsibility for your actions from here on out."

"I really fucked up, didn't I?" Sora murmured as he slipped to his knees and covered his face.

"Yeah, you did, Sora. But we're going to fix it. Ok?" Kairi said as she moved closer to Sora and embraced him.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Leon had given Sora an hour to calm down and gather his wits. Sure, Leon was having his own problems with the situation, but he also knew that there was no time to waste. Riku would be gaining unimaginable strength soon, and if they didn't accomplish whatever they had to do first, then they'd all be dead. Yes, Leon liked Riku, but he liked living more. He was also sure that Sora felt the same.

The brunette popped his head into Sora and Kairi's tent and saw them embracing in the corner. Sora had indeed calmed down considerably. The older brunette took his chances and stepped in the tent.

"Sora, Kairi. We have work to do here. There are heartless and who knows what out there. We have to find the keyhole and seal it," Leon said, looking down at the pair.

"Fuck off, Leon. I can practically say my best friend is dead," the younger brunette spat back, using Leon's earlier words.

"Look, Sora, I'm only going to say this once. If we don't go out and do our job then no one will be left. Not you, not Kairi, not me, not even our families. We need to move, get stronger and then maybe we'll have a chance against Riku when we encounter him," Leon said, crossing his arms. "So let's go. There's no time to lose."

"He's right, Sora. We need to fix this. Let's not be sad about it. Right now we need to save everyone. And maybe on our way, we can save Riku too," Kairi said, gently pulling away from her fiancé. Sora slowly nodded and pulled himself to his feet. He gave a small, forced smile to Leon and Kairi.

"Good. Come on. We're going to find the native's village and talk things out," Leon said as he turned away.

"Hey! Who made you boss?" Sora said, pouting.

"You don't have any better ideas, do you?" Leon said, not turning around.

"But! But! I'm always the leader!" Sora said as he followed Leon out, Kairi not far behind.

"Actually Riku was leader, and now I am. Face it," Leon teased.

"You know, he has a point. You were so acting like a sheep following its shepherd when Riku was around," Kairi giggled.

"If you want to lead, you're going to have to prove yourself, Sora. I'll let you decided things when you can beat me again," Leon said, letting a hint of play leak into his voice.

"But Leoooooooooon!" Sora whined.

"Oh, come on, Sora. It's not going to be that bad. Just train really hard and you'll beat him in no time!" Kairi giggled. Sora pouted but continued on behind Leon.

"Acting like a man is the first step," Leon threw back.

"Are you saying I'm girly?"

"No, I'm calling you boyish."

"Well fine then! I'll show you manly!" Sora stood tall, puffing his chest out. He began walking in what he hoped looked like Leon. The smaller brunette was failing horribly, though, and only caused Kairi to brake into gwaffs. Scrunching his face, Sora marched a head of Leon. The older brunette simply rolled his eyes. To him, it seemed Sora was easing himself back into his old habits. Habits that Donald and Goofy instilled in him seven years ago. And that wasn't so bad.

"Sora, the_ other_ way," Leon said once they got out of the gates. The younger brunette swiftly turned around, a light blush tinting his cheeks from embarrassment. Their best chance of finding the native's village would be following the river, not going towards the meeting place.

They continued up the riverside in elative silence. Every few meters they were attacked by heartless that were easily defeated. It wasn't until they had walked a good few miles from Jamestown that Sora pulled away, running far ahead. The brunette stopped at what had caught his eye so far back, brushing his fingers lightly over it. His hand was shaking horribly at the site. Blood was splattered over a tree, barely noticeable in its dried state except where words had been jaggedly carved in the words. Not being to completely control his reaction, Sora's lip quivered as his hand began shaking too badly to continue holding it there.

The other two caught up but remained silent as their eyes trained on the bloodied tree. A small gasp escaped Kairi. She covered his mouth and stepped back slightly before regaining her composure and walking up to Sora. Gently, she placed her hand on her fiancé's shoulder. The brunette shrugged it off, stepping closer to the tree.

"I'm such an ass," he breathed. "I…"

"Sora, let's keep moving. We have to make it to that village. The sooner we get off this world, the sooner we can search for Riku," Leon said, moving forward.

"Do you really think he wants us to search?" came Sora's quivering whisper.

"I don't know. But we won't know until we find him."

"Come on Sora. Let's go," Kairi said, grabbing both shoulders and directing him back towards the bank. They walked in a suffocating silence for over an hour. Sora busied himself with clenching and unclenching his fists, going over the fight from the previous night a million times in his head. He really did think of himself as an ass at the moment.

Suddenly an arrow ripped past Sora's face. A small cut opened on his cheek wear it grazed it. Sora tentively raised a hand to touch the bleeding wound before he heard his name shouted and a body collided with his, sending him to the ground. The smaller brunette groaned under the weight.

"Watch out. I think we found the village," Leon murmured into Sora's ear. Kairi was lying on the ground a few feet away, covering her head.

"I'm going to try to talk to them," Sora replied, pushing Leon off before the older man could stop him. HE got to his feet and held his hands up. "Uuuuh… We're here in peace! We only wish to talk to your… uh, chief? We only have one weapon and we'll leave it here!" Sora called out, looking back at Leon and his gunblade.

Leon stood, grumbling before dropping his weapon to the ground and kicking it behind him. He also raised his hands in the air. Kairi soon stood and raised her hands. There was a rustling in the bushes and trees, followed by a few murmurs. "Look, a woman. I don't think they'd bring a woman if they meant harm."

"I've never seen a white woman. A peace offering maybe?" A blush crept up Kairi's cheeks as she caught wisps of the conversation. Sora's features hardened slightly.

"Look, please, come out and talk to us. We really don't want to start up a conflict. In fact, I think we can help you just as much as you can help us," Sora said, looking around at the forest life, hoping to catch the elusive natives.

"We don't want your help! It was you white men that brought the heartless here. When we lived as one with nature without wasteful spending like you, there were no heartless!" yelled one of the men. Sora noted where the voice came from for future reference.

"I can certainly see where problems between the groups formed," Leon said dryly.

"We're here to get rid of the heartless, but to do that, we need to speak to the most knowledgeable person in your village!" Sora reasoned. Finally a man with long black hair stepped out from behind a bush. There seemed to be various things painted over his body, and he wore nothing but animal skin pants. A bow was clutched tightly in his fist.

"Fine. I will take you to our chief," he said, stepping forward.

"Alright then. Please lead the way," Sora said, a smile growing on his lips.

"If you try anything, I won't hesitate to kill you." The others nodded. It would only complicate things if they got on their bad side.

"What is it with landing in bad political situations?" Kairi whispered as she took her place next to Sora. The other men were slowly coming out of their hiding places and were staring at her like some strange creature. She shivered. Sensing her unease, Sora placed his arm on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll be out of here soon enough and hopefully to a more peaceful world," the younger brunette whispered back.

They were soon led another mile up the river into a large village—much larger than Jamestown. Women were wandering around, tending to their tasks, a lack of clothes or modesty apparent. A small blush rose on Sora's cheeks as he tried to a void looking at said women. The other noticeable thing about the village was that there seemed to be fewer men.

Finally, they stopped in front of one of the longhouses. The group as told to wait outside as the man disappeared into the structure. Sora kept his eyes trained forward but Kairi and Leon were looking around with almost wide eyes. After a few minutes the guide returned with a middle-aged man close behind. The guide hurried off to his post, leaving Sora and the others with the man.

"I am the chief. I have heard that you can defeat the heartless?" the man said. Sora nodded, looking at Leon as if asking if he could go ahead and explain. The older brunette nodded.

"We believe we can. But in order to do so, we'll need to talk to your historian. We are searching for something here that will help us," Sora explained.

"How can we trust you? You're white men," the chief said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"If you are familiar with the keyblade, then you should know that he can be trusted," Leon said, drawing the attention away from Sora.

"The keyblade? You bear a keyblade?" the chief asked, somewhat astonished. Sora nodded. The chief stared deeply into Sora's eyes. After a moment he spoke, "I have looked into your eyes and see that you are telling the truth. Please follow me." The chief headed off towards another longhouse. Upon entering they saw an elderly man seated next to a smoking fire. He looked up and stared pointedly at Sora.

"So the keyblade bearer has finally arrived. It seems that there has been a lot of turmoil surrounding you of late. There is a bad energy coming from you," the old man said. Sora took a step back, shocked.

"Uhm, yeah. Some bad things have happened recently, but I'm trying to put them behind me. We are looking for—"

"The keyhole. I'm sorry. Although we have many legends about the keyblade bearers, Heartless, and the keyhole, the location has been lost to us."

"So there is nothing—" Leon started before being cut off by some one entering the longhouse.

"Father! The heartless!" Sora snapped his attention to the exit, only to be shocked at the woman that entered. Standing there, equally as shocked, was Pocahontas.

"Pocahontas, go to where it is safe. Take the other women and children," the chief ordered. She ignored this however and took a few steps forward.

"What are you doing here? Where were you last night?" she asked a bit frantically.

"You were talking to these people before hand?" the chief asked, anger rising in his features.

"There isn't time for petty squabbles right now. People are in danger," Leon said, pushing past the two at the door. Sora quickly followed him into the chaos. "I don't have a weapon, Sora. I'll focus on getting people to safety. You and Kairi work on getting rid of these guys."

Sora nodded, surveying the village before rushing out. There were about fifty heartless running about. They were larger than any other that Sora had seen so far. Large round heads sat upon muscular lion-sized bodies, four horns protruding out of the sides and another from the front. The paws were half the size of the head with large, razor sharp claws extended outwards. A long tail swished with a dark purple flame at the tip. It was marked with dark purple stripes covering its entire body.

Sora was able to destroy two before being knocked to the ground by four more. He struggled but the Heartless were clawing at his chest. He finally mustered up enough strength and cast Lightning, causing the creatures to dissipate. Rising to his feet, Sora lunged forward at another heartless. He managed to destroy another large group before being slammed into the ground again. His arms and legs were pinned down, preventing all movement.

"Don't tell me getting Roxas back is going to be this easy." Sora looked around at the sound of a new voice. It didn't take him long to spot the black cloak among the villagers and the Heartless. The hood was quickly dropped, revealing a fohawk.

"Demyx? What are you doing controlling Heartless?"

"We need the Heartless to complete our plan. Not to mention that it's much easier to use them to do it all by hand."

"What the hell are you planning?" Sora cried exasperatedly, struggling as much as he could.

"It's not really time for you to find out yet. In fact, I'm not aloud to tell you unless you're Roxas. But that may be sooner than you think. You're so much weaker without Riku around to protect you."

"What would you know about Riku?!?" The brunette screamed, throwing the beast off and lunging at Demyx. The dirty blonde stepped back, narrowly avoiding the attack. Sora continued his advance, Demyx avoiding every one. Suddenly the Nobody lunged forward, punching Sora hard in the stomach before jumping back and calling his sitar.

"Dance, water, dance!" he called, water clones forming around him. The Heartless moved in, making it twice as hard for Sora to clear the way to Demyx. He was hit back to the ground, a heartless lunging at him, when he heard Kairi calling out to him. The red haired girl sliced threw the heartless at the last moment.

"Come on, Sora. We'll fight them together!" she said, charging at a few water clones. Sora sat up, watching her. She had gained considerable strength since they set out. A claw collided with his shoulder, reminding him that there was still battle to fight. Sora had questions and Demyx had answers. He had no other choice.

Leaping back up, he finished off the remaining few water clones and spotted Demyx surrounded by a ring of heartless. As he was charging towards the Nobody, Demyx lunged forward, pillars of water rising from beneath him. The brunette managed to dodge, but the water still sliced into his arm and leg. He fell to the ground again, to weak to pull himself up again. It seemed Demyx was a lot more powerful that he remembered.

Slowly, Demyx began walking towards the fallen keyblade master. Kairi made an attempt to stop him but was slammed down by a heartless. Grabbing Sora by the collar, Demyx pulled Sora to his feet. He poised his over Sora's heart. Just as he was about to come down, four arrows lodged themselves into the Nobody's back. The dirty blonde cried out in pain, dropping Sora.

"This is becoming too much. I'm out. But rest assured, Roxas, you will be coming back to us. You don't have a choice. We have our orders," Demyx breathed before disappearing into a portal of darkness. The heartless disappeared along with the Nobody, leaving Sora and Kairi lying on the ground. It wasn't long before Kairi scrambled up and over to Sora. There was a large gasp on her shoulder, but she paid no head to it.

"Sora, are you alright? You look horrible," she said, cupping his cheek. The brunette grinned up at his fiancé and attempted to sit up.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a bit sore."

"Sora!" She pouted and set herself about curing his wounds. Sora slipped into silence, staring at the ground.

"That was Demyx, wasn't it?" a deep voice asked. Sora looked up, seeing Squall approach.

"Yeah. It was," he replied quietly.

"Riku fought with his yesterday. Lost miserably, apparently. Pocahontas witnessed the battle. She said she'd seen nothing like it before." Leon held his hand out to help Kairi up. She took it eagerly, getting to her feet and brushing her skirt off. Leon offered to Sora next, but the younger refused.

"He's… a lot stronger than I remember," Sora said quietly. "Where are the chief and Pocahontas. We need to talk to them."

"Follow me," Leon said, motioning with his hand. Sora nodded and followed the older back to a longhouse. Pocahontas met them halfway.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, worry in her eyes.

"We had enough waiting for peaceful discussions and talked a warrior into bringing us here," Leon stated coolly.

"But what would you have done—" she started.

"We could defend ourselves if anything happened, like just now," Sora said.

"Where were you last night? I waited for you as long as I could before I had to leave."

"Riku never showed up. He's gone now, beyond our reach," Leon said. "Can this person you wanted us to meet tell us more than the sage here?"

"Yes."

"Can you still take us to her?" Leon asked, hope leaking into his voice. Pocahontas looked about the room before nodding.

"Yes, but we need to hurry before anyone notices." Leon nodded as the copper-skinned woman led the way from the longhouse.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Sora pushed his way through a few tree branches as the neared a small clearing. In the center was a large weeping willow. Pocahontas headed straight for the ancient tree and climbed on a stump near a large knot in the tree. She motioned Sora and Kairi to climb on the stump as well. After a moment, Sora began looking around.

"So, uh, where is this person?" he asked innocently.

"Shh! Look," Pocahontas said, pointing to the knot. As Sora continued to look, a face began to appear in the knot. Sora squeaked, moving back, while Kairi just about screamed and hid herself in Sora's shoulder. Pocahontas did little more than laugh.

"What disrespectful children these keyblade masters are," the tree said with a voice reminiscent of an old woman.

"This is Grandmother Willow. If anyone were to know something, it'd be her," Pocahontas explained. Sora quickly regained his composure, prying Kairi off him.

"Sorry about that. I just wasn't expecting a tree to… well… talk," Sora said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I don't know why you're so shocked," Leon said from beside the stump. "This world is different then ours. Anything can happen."

"Yes, you come from far off worlds. It had been a long time since a keyblade wielder has been here. But I don't know if I should really help you out or not," Grandmother Willow said, lifting one of the weeping branches to her chin.

"Please! Our friend… he was taken by the darkness. I need to leave this world as soon as possible to start looking for him!" Sora cried, inching closer to the willow's face.

"And how do you know that he is still not here, child?" she asked.

"Riku… Riku would never stay in the same place as me after what I said. I need to fix things with him and in the universe." Grandmother Willow grinned at the reply.

"Child, at you have a pretty good head on your shoulders. Look here," Grandmother Willow said, pulling what looked like a leave over to Sora. "Take this. It should help you with your journey." Sora gingerly took the offered leaf and examined it.

"A keychain?"

"Yes."

"Thank you," Sora murmured as he called his keyblade and attached the keychain.

"Now, the place you are looking for is behind the giant waterfall. Pocahontas can take you. You know the one I'm talking about, right child?"

"I think so," Pocahontas said, rising to her feet.

"And one more thing. Be very careful." The tree wrinkled her nose before shoeing them off. Pocahontas took the lead, heading back to the river. They walked along it until they came to a large waterfall, relatively few attacks by the Heartless. Standing in the middle of the river on a stone was a man clad in black leather. His long silver hair seemed to flow slightly in the wind created from the rushing water.

"This is the same place that Riku fought Demyx," Leon observed. "But I have to wonder if he was led here on purpose, now."

"I think it's more important that we figure out who that guy is," Sora said, motioning to the man.

"I've seen him in glimpses from time to time," Pocahontas said.

As they came within a few meters of the waterfall and the man, he began to turn. His face was slight and somewhat feminine, but the lines of his body easily canceled it out. He raised a gun and aimed at the on coming group. They instantly froze, rooted to their spot but ready to act just in case. The deafening bang of a gunshot rung out clear above the roaring water. Kairi screamed, falling to the ground. The silver haired man jumped into the water and ran behind the waterfall. Sora stood, shocked and crossed. Leon and Pocahontas hurried to Kairi's side.

"Sora, go! We've got it handled!" Leon yelled. Sora nodded numbly before running after the man. Upon making it behind the water, he was met by a small, empty cave. There was no sign of the man. A keyhole glowed to life and Sora raised his keyblade to seal the lock. With a defeated sigh, he rushed back out to check on Kairi.

"Don't worry. It went straight through. Nothing vital was hit. She just fainted from the shock. We'll be able to heal this in no time," Leon said, pulling off his shirt to rip into bandages. "We should take her back to the ship and heal her on the way to the next world."

Sora nodded numbly before turning to Pocahontas. "Thank you, so much for your help," he managed, fight of the tears building up in the back of his eyes. "This world has been sealed. You should notice a great decline in the heartless from here on out…"

"No. I should be thanking you. You've helped us out in a far greater way," Pocahontas said. "And you sacrificed so much…" Sora only nodded before grabbing Kairi's hand.

"Hold on, Kairi…"

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**Author's Note:** baaaaaaaaaah. This turned out so different than I expected. So uh, does anyone like the change of perspective? I kind of like it. It's a nice break and allows me to develop the other characters a little more…. Hmmmm… Oh well. By the way, go check out me new story!


	10. The Widow's Web Begins

**Author's Note:** Sorry that it took a little longer than I hoped. I got sick and bogged with homework, then got writter's block and depression. Most of this story was written to the song "il mare dei suoni" a lovely song by Kokia. It's recommended that you listen to it while reading any Riku chapters because the dark tones seem to fit him, in my opinion. On a quick note, because it was brought up, I had things unfold with Sora the way they did for a reason. The short answer is that it was more confusing and devastating for him to have not had a chance to help at all than for him to have found anything at all, but he did see the original message in the end, making what happened real. This will be pushed more in a few chapters when Sora and Riku do collide again.

PhinMaginOnly—No, that wasn't Riku. As you will see, he really was a bit busy at the moment. But you're getting in the ballpark. But, I really don't blame you for what you say. It makes me luahg because that's how I'm making Riku feel.

StoopidMonkey—You wanna tell me the pair you want? You get any. And yeah, you were right.

Black-Abyss—Thanks! And yes, there will be… eventually. It's in the plans… and the far off future. The catalyst has just been sparked for it.

And Special thanks to Is Simple for being meh Beta. Everyone clap now!!!

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I was drifting in the cold darkness. Just floating aimlessly, it seemed. My body was slowly becoming numb. My heart was icing over like it had once in the distant past. But all I could think about was high school. Of how things worked out.

The most prominent memory took place a few months after we had returned from The World That Never Was. Sora and I had managed to get back into school in the grades that we should have been in. It was a complete miracle because we had missed almost two years of school and had no clue about what we were supposed to know.

Despite all that, I was managing an A average in my classes while juggling soccer. It was my sport of choice at the time, and I was damn good at it. Halfway through the season I had become one of the star players on the team. At first Sora and Kairi came to all my games and cheered me one from the sidelines. I think that's why I always did so well then. At that point I had still seen hope that Sora might have had feelings for me. It was his smile, I think.

One day I had dragged him to the play island. I had made sure it was a day when I _knew_ that Kairi would be busy. I hadn't wanted her to ruin the moment. We had gone around the island and messed around just like old times, ending the day on the Paopu Island. We had watched the sunset together, staying put long after the sun had disappeared. I had been perched on the bent Paopu tree with Sora sitting on the sand at the base. We had remained silent since arriving on the island. After a long while, I had finally mustered enough strength to speak, to confess my darkest secret.

"Sora?" I had said, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah?" He had replied back just as quietly.

"I-I don't know what I would do without you, Sora."

"It's no problem. You're my best friend."

"Is that all I am to you?" I had asked, slightly more quiet and breathy than before.

"W-what do you mean?" He had blinked up at me with large, innocent eyes when asked the simple question.

"Sora, I like you as more than a best friend. I'm… I'm pretty sure I've fallen in love with you…"

"You've…" He was silent for a long time after that. It had taken him about twenty minutes for every implication of those words to sink in. I couldn't bear looking at him at that instant and turned away. The wheels in his head were turning and a look of confusion and displeasure was forming on his cute face.

"I'm sorry," He had said after an eternity. "I don't feel the same. I don't even like guys. I… I think I love Kairi…"

"I see. Let's forget we ever had this conversation, then." I stood and began to leave the island, not once looking at Sora. I had placed an unbreakable mask on my face—or at least I had though it unbreakable until much later. Sora called out softly for me, but I ignored him. Once I got home, my mother jumped on me, smothering me with her breasts.

"Ooooh! Rikuuu! I'm so proud of you!" she had cried out. "So when's the date? Huh, huh?" I pushed her away and looked her in the eye.

"There isn't one," I had said flatly, trying to move past her.

"No date? Did you chicken out?" Her face had hardened some at the notion.

"No, I didn't. He doesn't feel the same. There won't ever _be_ a date," I had tried to explain to her. She didn't have any of it, though.

"Of course he feels the same! He just hasn't realized it yet, honey! Just keep trying!" I had tried to shoot down her overconfidence in Sora's 'true feelings' several times, but she never relented. Slowly, I began getting worse at soccer. I dropped out before the end of the season and picked up another sport.

The memory was horribly painful. My mother had just never accepted the fact that Sora never liked me like that. It wasn't long after my confession that Sora and Kairi started dating.

I was snapped from my thoughts when I felt solid ground under my feet, a loud pained gasping coming from somewhere in the darkness.

"We're going to have to push them all the way through to get them out."

"Owie!! This is why I hate fighting so much! Why must we war and cause pain when it'd be just so much easier to love everybody?"

"Shut up. You can't love. You're useless. If you'd held on just two more minutes we would have had a pretty little Roxas as a trophy, but nooooo." Suddenly a sharp gasp, followed shortly by a piercing scream, sounded. My vision was beginning to clear to the sights around me. Axel was leaning over a crumpled Demyx pushing arrows through his back. The sight looked rather painful, and I felt myself flinch. What was left of my broken heart and dieing heart went out to Demyx.

"You fought Sora?" I asked, a little surprised at how rough and unused my voice felt. It was strange to be back in the darkness and somewhat under its influence. It wasn't something that was easily accustomed to. It took months to get acquainted with fully. Axel looked at me with mild shock, suddenly realizing that I was awake again.

"Oh. You. Yeah. Demyx did. Now if you'll excused me," Axel said, turning back to Demyx and shoving another arrow through the blonde's chest. A scream that was oddly too high rang out in the darkness. I flinched slightly at the pitch. After the final arrow was pushed through, Demyx scrambled away from Axel.

"Uuuuuuuuhhh," he spazed, clutching his arms and hunching more. "No way am I letting you treat my wounds ever again. I'd rather have Vexen do it than you."

"Now you're being an idiot. Get over it. We've got Riku to deal with, remember?" Axel deadpanned.

"Oooooooh yeah!" Demyx chirped, seeming as if his mood was brightened. "Riku, baby! Are you feeling batter?" The Nobody asked, moving towards me.

"Yeah. A little. I'm numbed, not fixed though. I'll probably need to do this every once in a while," I murmured.

"It can be arranged. But come on. It's dangerous out here. Mr. One Wing or his gooneys might be lurking just beyond sight. We can't loose you," Axel said, opening a portal the Organization's new base.

"Everything will be explained, right?" I asked, following Axel through the portal and into one of the bright white rooms that the organization was known for. Demyx followed behind me.

"Yep! Anything you want to know, we probably have the answer to," Demyx squealed, latching onto me. His arms rested comfortably around my waist, hands clasping over my bare stomach. "Oooo! You have such nice muscles!"

"Get off. Are you trying to annoy me? You know the only reason you won back in Virginia was because we were surrounded by your element, right?" As nice as a pair of _loving_ arms was at the moment, I wasn't in the mood. No one would be touching me without permission from now on without facing severe consequences.

"Ah! You're no fun!" the dirty blonde cried as I yanked his hands away from my stomach. I felt a little awkward wearing the outfit as I was, but I had done it under Axel's request. The top zipper of my coat was at my sternum while the bottom one rested just above my bellybutton, revealing enough of my skin and scars to be frightening yet seductive. The skintight black pants were just low enough to accentuate it but high enough to not be risqué. Next time I'd meet Sora, he would see the scars. The one I received from Xemnas was in plain view whenever I twisted or moved in general.

"Look, I doubt I'll have any real time to show you around later, so I'll tell you shit as we go. Got it?" Axel said, shooing us further into the room as the portal closed.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with." Axel nodded and started moving forward.

"This room isn't really special. Just another place for an intruder to get stuck in to fight," he said. After we exited the room, Demyx skulked down a separate hallway and out of site. Axel's strides were long and fast as he began leading my through a maze of corridors and rooms. Occasionally he'd motion to a room and give some important facts about it. We didn't stop until we somehow managed to run into Demyx again.

"Number One is busy at the moment. It'll be awhile until you can go to the conference room," the dirty blonde said, somewhat seriously before bouncing off with a loud, melodic cry of, "Zexion! Where are you! It's not _nice_ to ditch your _friends_!" Axel shook his head slightly before turning back to me.

"If that's the case, I'll take you to your room now. It was specially created for you. It's close to the dark realm but also the most guarded room in the place. You'll be safe there," Axel said, making a sharp turn down another corridor. I picked up speed, tired of walking behind him. He stopped suddenly at a door and opened it.

The room was black, as dark as the realm of darkness with red streaks of smoke and light floating through the air. I could just barely make out the rough shapes of a bed, a filled bookshelf and a small chair. Carefully, I made my way into the room, Axel not far behind. I could feel the darkness cooling my body further as I made my way towards the bed. I took a seat and sunk deep into the soft mattress. Axel joined me, making the bed sink farther down.

"This should be good…" I said a bit emptily.

"You want to stay numb, right? Well this is the best way we could think. Number One knew you'd prefer this in the long run. It was Xigbar and Xaldin that actually designed the room so it shouldn't be that bad. I'd only be really worried if it was Vexen that did it. The little freak is scary and dumb at times, but his inventions are infinitely more dangerous than he is, as you know." I nodded, remembering my experiences with Vexen and the clone. That wasn't a very pleasant part of my life. After another moment Axel got up and headed to the door. "I'd better be off. I've got some things to do. I'll be back when our boss can talk with you."

I didn't do or say anything to Axel as he left. Instead, I collapsed backwards onto my bed. The cold of the darkness was beginning to wrap around my heart like kudzu. It was suffocating yet relaxing. I'd never been afraid of the Darkness. It wouldn't fit for me to be suddenly afraid of it. As time went on, it seemed more and more likely that Sephiroth's words to me the day we first met were true. I was a child of darkness. I would always return.

Slowly, my mind drifted back to Sora. Back to my senior year, when Sora was a junior. Sora had been excited, _so_ excited that night. He'd been out on a date with Kairi, their one and a half year anniversary. They had separated somewhere around seven that night and Sora had practically bounced his way to my doorstep. I had managed to stave my mother away from the door and answered it myself. While Sora and Kairi were off doing their date thing, I had been throwing myself a party with various cartons of ice cream (all different flavors) and chick flicks. My mother had been there the whole time trying to cheer me up with what she thought was encouraging words. I had been between flings and her words just stung more.

Sora was Kairi's. There wasn't anything that could change that in the foreseeable future.

So, that night when Sora had shown up so bubbly and bright, I had been shocked senseless. Before my mom could get anywhere near him, I had pushed him to my room. It had been my only solace from my mother in those days.

"Oh My Gawd, Riku!" he had gushed as soon as the door closed. He had this dreamy look on his face as he fell on my bed and sighed contentedly. "Now I know what I've been missing out on."

"Come again?" I had said, not quite getting what he had said. He had grinned goofily at me, pulling a string in my heart. I had known from that moment that I wouldn't like what he was going to say.

"Now I know what you find so great about sex! I mean, for the longest time I was all, 'it can't be really that good,' but it is!" he had spouted off.

"Oh, so I take it you and Kairi?" I had asked. He had nodded and taken it as a queue to continue.

"Yeah. And it was so wonderful. I mean, like mind blowing. Kairi was amazing. So was so _tight_ and wet and it was heaven. I couldn't think straight and… Oh my god!"

"Sora… I really don't want the gory details. I'm glad that you and Kairi are doing so well, just spare me those details," I had said with as much cheer as I could get in my voice. It had been so hard that night to be next to Sora.

It hadn't helped any when Kairi came the next day and sent me a note expressing the same feelings. It had been heart breaking and soul shattering. They had enjoyed themselves so much when I had never gotten lasting pleasure. I had several scores under my belt but none had ever been exceptionally satisfying. Until Sephiroth, I had felt a mechanical need to release my frustrations in that way. Sephiroth had numbed me. Hearing that stuff from Sora stung deeply, but I dealt for a long time.

I was drawn from my deep thoughts for a second time that day by a hand gently shaking me. I looked to my side to find Axel, a small worried look on his face. His brow was creased as if in a deep thought as well.

"You had me worried there for a second. You're eyes looked so blank," He said, pulling me into a sitting position.

"I was reminiscing."

"Well, whatever it is, come on. You have someone to talk to." I nodded and followed Axel out of the room. He led me back into the maze. After a long walk, we began to ascend stairs. Four flights later, we stopped at a large, white door. Axel pushed it open, revealing a room seemingly bigger than Mickey's throne room.

As we walked up the center of the room, I noticed that other members of the organization were perched on chairs and talking quietly. They looked at me wearily as I passed but otherwise ignored me. I was surprised that the whole organization was there, including the ones that wished to revolt against Xemnas.

At the far end of the room, a raised platform stood with what looked like a statue behind it. Nearing it, it became clear that it wasn't a statue but a large structure that was containing something. Green liquid bubbled around in the structure with harder matter bursting out in spikes in a somewhat abstract Nobody symbol. Getting even closer, I could tell that the person imprisoned was Xemnas, and there was a person standing in front of him. Axel stopped at the base of the stairs.

"This is as far as I go," Axle said, motioning for me to continue up the steps. I nodded and moved to up the twenty-four steps slowly. When I neared the top, the person standing in front of Xemnas turned around. It turned out to a girl in her late teens. Her hair was long and flowing, ebony in color. She wore a black and white swirled coat like Xemnas in much the same way as me. Her pants were white with black boots. She was slight in frame with a thin, pretty face and startlingly deep red eyes.

"Riku," she said in a soft yet commanding voice, "I'm glad you decided to join us."

"So you're the one that managed to take over the organization."

"Yes. I'm Xifeng."

"I seriously didn't expect this."

"Are you really that surprised? I lost my heart when I tried to save my world and failed. I, too, received a keyblade several years ago. I just never got out and used it much beyond the surrounding worlds. All I want is my heart back and my home restored."

"Xemnas said similar things."

"That's why I have him incased in that." Xifeng said, motioning to the structure behind us. "It's Materia. It's extremely powerful, and its magics are binding him. He can't do anything."

"What are your plans, exactly?"

"To build up Kingdom hearts again. Five years ago, the hearts that were used were scattered through the universe. Most did not return to their owners. It would only be the logical thing to kill the heartless in hopes that it will allow us to gather our lost hearts."

"So you're going to kill more innocent people to get your hearts back?"

"No. You miss interpret the situation. I'm trying to get it back while helping. Despite the fact that I'm a Nobody, I can't override the desire to save these people. But I take it you don't really know anything about Sephiroth, do you?"

"All I know is that he's up to something."

"He's trying to reunite the worlds and bring them into darkness. He's going for the hearts of the worlds, sending heartless to weaken the people and keep the doors open. No one will survive if he gets his way."

"I'm not quite so sure."

"He wants you, Riku. Out of everyone but Cloud, you are the most valuable playing chip. Whoever has you is practically guaranteed victory. The power within you…"

"I don't care about my potential power. All I care about is serving out a purpose. If I'm not given something to do soon, I _will_ kill myself."

"Fine. Be that way. I need you to go to every world that Sora has sealed already and reopen the doors."

"Why?"

"Because… Never mind. Fine then. I need you to go to a world called El Dorado first. The world has just been opened and there are signs that whoever Sephiroth sent this time is still there. Take Axel with you and kill as many heartless as you can. If you run into Sora, bring Roxas back. The more keyblades we have, the better."

"Fine, Xifeng," I said as a bowed and turned away. I didn't like or trust her at all, but I had no choice to until I learned more about the situation.

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Axel had made sure that I was well prepared for the trip. I was equipped with several types of potions and warding charms that I couldn't get anywhere else. Demyx had presented me with a new keyblade. I was told to try to wield both at the same time, to increase my fighting capabilities. I had been pampered and prepared in everyway they possibly could before we set out.

I guess it was all of that that had me really shocked when we ended up coming out in the middle of a city and all the people dropped to the ground in deep bows. That was the one thing they hadn't prepared me for. They people seemed scared, and I got the feeling that things were about to get complicated. A thin muscular man with black hair, hawk nose, and face paint stepped forward. A shorter, fatter man followed close behind the first.

"My liege," the first man said, bowing at my feet, "we have been expecting you for sometime. You're brother came from the heavens a while ago to announce the coming of you and many other gods. I am Tzekel-kan, the high priest and this is the chief."

A little shell shocked by this, I turned to Axel and pulled him close to me. I whispered into his ear, "What the hell is going on here? I don't have a brother."

Axel turned to me replied in my ear, "Sephiroth got here before us. His lackeys have been calling you brother. They did the same thing to Cloud as well. Demyx was watching." I nodded and pulled away. The skinnier man was looking up at us expectantly.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to be taken to my brother," I said to Tzekel-kan.

"That will not be a problem! Please! Follow me!" the chief cried, leaping to his feet and motioning us towards a large pyramid. I looked about the city as I climbed the large stairs. The first thing I noticed was the abundant supply of gold in the city. It seemed to be around every corner, on every stone. The temple, though, seemed to have the most abundant amount compared to the rest of the city. It was easily the most notable structure in the city, rising high above the rest. It was moments like this—climbing impossibly high buildings—that I was glad that I had never let my self get out of shape.

At the top of the stairs, we were led back into a room filled with plush pillows, beautifully dyed cloths and even more gold. Sitting at one of the cushions was an older teenager, clad in leather with short, choppy silver hair. He stood upon seeing us enter and my breath caught. The resemblance was striking. His green eyes were only a few shades off from my aqua, and the glowing blue borders did nothing to hide it. His hair cute was very similar to mine in my later years of high school, the hair choppy and shoulder length. The silver color was slightly different but almost a match. His build was slightly different, with narrower hips and a broader chest, but we shared enough facial features that we did look like siblings.

"Wow. A pretty cushiony place here for mortals," Axel said, whistling as he moved forward into the room. He was obviously playing along with the whole god bit. The teen stepped closer to me and grabbed my arm with an eerie smirk on his face.

"Big brother, I'm so glad that you could make it so soon! Isn't it delightful?" the boy said, a little too exited.

"Yeah. I suppose it is," I said, wrinkling my nose at him slightly. The younger, almost-clone-of-me moved away, lifting his arms I the air.

"Won't Sephiroth be proud to hear about how wonderful this world is? It would be wonderful to convince him to visit here himself, wouldn't it, Riku?" the teen cried, turning back to me at the end.

"Actually, I don't think he'd like it here," I said, glaring. A noise came from where we entered. The chief and Tzekel-kan were standing in the doorway.

"Uhm, excuse me, your highnesses, but we need to arrange something for your arrival," Tzekel-kan said, bowing.

"We could hold a feast," the chief said, but Tzekel-kan looked at him disapprovingly.

"Or I could offer you a sacrifice," the priest offered as an alternative.

"There are still more gods to come why not—" Kadaj started before being cut off by Axel.

"I want a sacrifice!" The red head moved in front of us, rather gleefully, and spread himself in such a way that is was hard for them to see the teen and I. "Go round up as many Heartless as you can and bring them to us. Riku and I, Axel, wish to slaughter them with our own hands. We are war gods and grew bored up in heaven." Tzekel-kan's face lit up with something close to glee and he nodded excitedly.

"Aright then! I shall start preparations immediately!" the priest said before bowing again and leaving. The chief looked at us a bit strangely before leaving himself. After a few moments I turned back to the teen behind me. He was seated again, smirking wickedly.

"Who are you?" I asked, venom dripping from my voice.

"I am Kadaj."

"Why are you still here?"

"I wanted to meet you. I've waited so long, Big Brother."

"Where is Sephiroth?"

"I won't take you to him. He doesn't want to see you right now."

"I'll kill you if you don't answer me," I said, summoning Way To Dawn. I lunged forward at him, but he dodged. He drew a sword form seemingly nowhere, deflecting all of my attacks with ease. His smirk grew, and I knew then that he was only playing with me.

"Don't pick a fight you don't know you can win, Big Brother. I suggest you enjoy this world while you can. All the pawns are in play yet," Kadaj sneered, opening a portal of darkness and disappearing into it. I snapped my head to look at Axel.

"He's a brat. I don't think he's left this world, yet, though. They've been reopening the worlds after Sora and Xifeng closed them."

"I don't like him."

"You aren't the only one. But he is right. Enjoy this while you can. Our movements will be severely limited once Sora gets here. We'll need to move under cover as soon as we get word that he's here."

"Right." I looked out the temple. I thought I would be getting away from Sora for a while when I decided to leave, but I felt it was somewhat deserved. Our fates were intertwined. I wouldn't be able to go for very long without seeing him in this situation. The only thing I could let myself look forward to would be ripping Sora apart from the inside out for everything he'd put me through.


	11. Sorrow

**Author's Note:** So I'm pretty much jipped of my Spring break and not happy about it. The day after I restarted KH2, I had to go to my aunt's and she won't let me try to figure out how to use her TV to play it. I'm not a happy camper. Other than that, I've really been loaded down with school work. Had my states writing exam and like 3 papers to write for English plus a science project. It was really hectic. UHK!

StoopidMonkey—You know when you're eating pizza and you suddenly get the urge to eat toffee, but there is none because you rarely eat it? Well that's kinda what I want to hear from you about what couple you wanna see have action. I seriously don't think I can give you any angst free RiSo action in this fic. In my other story, definitely, but not this one. But yeah. I love Kadaj. He's all over the place. And Axel is definitely in character there. I can so see it too.

PhinMaginOnly—I know how you feel. I'm the same way. I always want the main characters to be happy, but I love it just as much as the angst they go through. Too much happy makes a story too dull.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or The Road to El Dorado. If I did, I wouldn't be here, now would I?

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Sora was seated on the floor of the gummy ship with Kairi's head resting on his lap. Leon had washed the gunshot wound out with a potion and used cure to mend the rest of the damage. Despite that, though, Kairi had not woken up. It had been at least six hours since the incident, and Sora was beginning to feel extremely worried. After only three hours, Sora had convinced Leon to take the gummyship and turn around if she didn't wake up soon. Leon was just now reving up to warp back to Radiant Garden.

Kairi seemed paler than normal. That worried Sora most of all. The thought of some kind of poisioned bullet rang through his head. He didn't know if he'd be able to deal with loosing Kairi. He didn't think he could deal with another death, figuratively or physically. Losing Riku again under those circumstances, was almost too much. Losing Kairi would definitely send Sora over the edge.

When the ship pulled out of warp, they were just outside of Radiant Garden. It was high time that they visited Merlin, in Leon's opinion. With Sora worried over Kairi and himself concerned at their current magical capabilities, it was definitely a good idea. Leon signaled Cid that they were back and that they would be landing. It took a few moments for Cid to actually find an open dock, but after that, there were no problems landing. Leon felt slightly accomplished by that. It was high time that they visited Merlin, in Leon's opinion. With Sora worried over Kairi and himself concerned at their current magical capabilities, it was definitely a good idea. Leon signaled Cid that they were back and that they would be landing. It took a few moments for Cid to actually find an open dock, but after that, there were no problems landing. Leon felt slightly accomplished by that. It had been _years_ since he'd piloted a gummyship. The last time had been when he and the others had returned to Hallow Bastion to reclaim it as their own.

Sora was up as fast as lightning to carry Kairi off to Merlin. Leon was close behind and yelled at Cid for him to secure the gummy. Sora just wasn't going to wait any longer. Cid grumbled at them as they passed by, but moved towards the ship, nonetheless. Leon easily directed Sora down the streets in the growing city to Merlin's new home. Upon arrival, Sora began banging on the door. It took a few moment for a startled Merlin to answer his door.

"Oh, dear! Sora! What are you doing here? I though the King said you would be off in other worlds with Riku?" the old wizard said, ushering them in.

"That's just it," Leon said, "Riku's been taken back in by the darkness. We think organization XIII has him."

"Organization XIII? But I thought they were all destroyed. How odd."

"And on top of that, some people are running around claiming to be minions of Sephiroth. We've run into two. One of them Shot Kairi and she hasn't woken up since!" Sora exclaimed, taking Kairi over to Merlin's bed. He laid her gently down on the bed.

"Oh, dear," Merlin said, moving over to have a look at the red head. "How long had she been out?"



"About six or seven hours. We thought she fainted from shock, but she should be awake by now," Sora said, grabbing a hold of Kairi's hand.

"It even appeared that the bullet went all the way through," Leon said, leaning against the wall by the bed.

"This is most peculiar. Give me a moment to see if there is anything wrong," Merlin said as he pulled out his wand and waved it over Kairi. He was quiet for a few moments as he deciphered what he felt. "My. It seems that the bullet must have been coated in some powerful sleeping poison. Let me see if I have something already."

The old man scurried about the house, looking at the different concoctions he'd already made. Sora stayed by Kairi's side, keeping a firm grip on her hand. He couldn't help but feel guilty for all of this. If he hadn't had ignored Riku to begin with, nothing might have happened. Their adventures seven years ago might have been so drastically different, and Riku may never have run away again. But there wasn't anything that Sora could do to change the past, and that weighed on his heart more than all. He didn't need to lose Kairi to his carelessness either.

"Aha!" Merlin cried, pulling Sora out of his thoughts. The younger brunette looked over to Merlin as he came back. The wizard held out a small flask. "This is a remedy. It's good for all ailments, but don't expect it to heal any wounds. Sit the girl up and let's see if we can get her to drink it."Sora watched as Merlin pulled Kairi up slightly and put the flask to her lips. He forced the drink down her throat. After the remedy was completely downed, he layed her flat again and waited for her to rise on her own. Kairi layed still for a few moments before her eyes started to blink open. The red head groaned slightly as she tried to sit up. Sora imideatly pulled her into a hug.

"Sora?" Kairi asked uncertainly, hugging the brunette back uncertainly. "What happened?"

"You got shot by some guy. You didn't wake up after a long time and we brought you here. We're at Merlin's in Radiant Garden," Sora hastily explained into Kairi's hair. "You were poisoned."

"But I'm awake now, so there shouldn't be any worries," Kairi said, looking around the room. Leon grunted from where he was against the wall.

"I should probably report to the King. He needs to be briefed on what's happened. Wait here until I get back," Leon commanded. The older brunette pushed himself off the wall and head towards to door. Sora slowly let go of Kairi and turned to face Merlin.

"Do you have any more Remedies?" Sora asked, moving to sit beside his fiancé.

"Yes, I do, but not many. But the moogles should be able to make you more if you bring them the right materials. Let me go find the recipe!" Merlin wondered off again, leaving the two lovers alone. Sora pulled Kairi close to him once again.

"I was so afraid I was going to lose you. I don't think I could stand losing the two most important people in my life again," Sora whispered.

"Sora… You won't lose me, ever. And we will get Riku back. I promise. It might take longer and a lot more work this time we will. We'll drag him back with a concussion if we have to," Kairi said, hugging Sora back just as tightly.

"But I'm afraid that I'm going to have to fight him. I'm afraid of what might happen. I don't want to hurt anymore, Kairi. I was being a total ass and I didn't realize it. I thought I was helping by telling him what I thought."

"He's going to want to fight you, you know. Riku has always been the physical type of guy. Remember when we were young and he used to challenge you to anything and everything to get my attention? I think that was his way of trying to make you fall in love with him or at least feel his pain."

"He's liked me since then?" Sora asked, slightly shocked.

"I could only guess so. Leon said that Riku had been cutting since he was fourteen, right? It coincides pretty well."

"I always thought that he just might have woken up one day during our adventures and realized he liked me. That or after we defeated Xemnas. I really didn't think that he'd…"

"It's alright, Sora. We'll try to fix things. I know we can get somewhere with him. The wounds are probably deep, but I know that we can at least start to heal them. Don't give up."



Sora nodded his head slightly as Merlin returned to the couple handing them a recipe. Sora took it and looked over it somberly. "Thanks," he murmured, slipping back into his thoughts.

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"So Riku's returned to the darkness and Organization XIII is back? This is far worse than I thought," Mickey said, rubbing his chin in thought. Leon nodded at the figure upon the screen.

"I don't know what any of us could have done to prevent this. I think it was inevitable, especially with Sora and Riku being reunited like that. Sparks were bound to fly eventually," Leon said gravely.

"I suppose you're right. I knew something was off the way Riku was looking at Sora and Kairi. He destroyed a whole shelf of books too! He wasn't going to last long under that kind of stress, no matter how strong his heart had become."

"I'm not so sure of that. He was with Sephiroth for a few years as a lover. Sephiroth would have come back sooner or later to get him. Riku is incredibly strong, and Sephiroth spent a long time trying to bring that dark power out."

"Oh, dear! This is even worse! I don't know how we will be able to handle Sephiroth, the Organization, and Maleficent!"

"Maleficent? Don't tell me…"

"Unfortunately. We have seen enough evidence to convince us that she too has decided to move."

"Are you sure it's not just Sephiroth? Both Virginia and Elicoor had heartless and men that connected themselves to Sephiroth. Isn't Sephiroth considered the Dark General?"

"Yes, but… Wait? Others are in League with Sephiroth?"

"Yes. Cloud, though we haven't seen him yet, and at least two other young men. One of them shot Kairi with a poison bullet. Merlin already has the situation under control."

"Thank heaven! I'm glad Kairi's safe. Things would be much harder for Sora if she died," the mouse said, whipping his brow.

"Yes. Speaking of them, I should probably get back. We need to leave as soon as possible. We have to find Riku and incapacitate him as soon as possible," Leon said, moving towards the screen's control panel.

"Yes, that would be wise. Good luck," Mickey said, disconnecting the connection. Leon sighed. This would definitely be a long journey for all of them.

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Sora moved somewhat sluggishly through the gummyship hanger. He was somewhat disheartened to journey, but he knew he had to. He had to regain Riku's friendship, or at least get him back on the side of the Light. It was his duty. He _owed_ it to Riku. Kairi quietly nudged the brunette forward into the gummyship and pushed him into a seat. Leon took his place in the driver's seat.

Sora stared down at his hands, or more specifically, the ring on his finger. Merlin had caught sight of it and had gone wild over it. He had said that it was some sort of magical charm that absorbed magical energy released around it over time. Merlin had raised the question of how Sora had received a ring like that that contained almost pure dark energy. It made Sora's mind reel. There was no way that Riku had bought the ring before Sora had arrived on Radiant Garden. The ring was too untarnished. That had to mean that in the span of about a week, Riku had released enough Dark energy to fill the stone halfway.



Sora wondered idly, while Leon was pulling into warp mode, if it was all of Riku's pain and depression that was leaking into the ring or just his pure power. The feelings would explain the wave of intense emotion he felt when he put the ring on, but not all of the energy it stored. It was a mystery that Sora would have to solve the next time he ran into Riku.

"We're here. I'm going to beam us down now," Leon's gruff voice cut through Sora's thoughts. It was time for Sora to pull himself together. He needed to put a smile on his face and take this new world on head first. Things would get better. They _would _get Riku back.

When Sora's feet touched the ground, a collective gasp sounded around him and the others. He glanced around to see a land filled with gold. On closer inspection, he noticed people bowed low to the ground towards them. This confused him, but it wasn't long until they were approached by a fat man and tall, skinny man. The Skinny man stepped forward.

"My, the other Gods have arrived so soon! We did not expect you to come so soon. Welcome to El Dorado. I am Tzekel-Kan, the High Priest."

"And I am the Chief!" the fat man proclaimed pushing the skinner away.

"Uh, Gods? We're—" Sora started, but was cut off by Leon's hand.

"I'm Leon, and this is Sora. The woman with us is Kairi," Leon said rather straight forward. He turned to Sora and whispered into his ear, "This could work to our benefit. Let's play along for a little while." Sora nodded before popping his head over Leon's shoulder.

"Hey, by any chance, have you seen a rather tall, skinny guy with silver hair and aqua eyes?" The younger brunette asked.

"Ah! You must mean either Lord Riku or Lord Kadaj. Would you like to see them now? We can take them to you!" Tzekel-kan answered. Sora's eyes brightened immediately.

"Riku's here? Please!" He said, pushing forward and grabbing the priest's hands.

"Ever enthusiastic, I see. Just as Lord Axel described you. Right this way," Tzekel-kan said. The priest motioned the group forward towards a large set of steep stairs. They moved forward slowly, the Chief joining them. The chief pushed his way up to Sora.

"It is unfortunate that you missed the sacrifice offered to your godly brethren this morning. They had a wonderful time slaying heartless. Or at least Lord Riku and Lord Axel did," the man said, looking over at Sora apologetically.

"Oh. I see. That seems a little odd for them, though. Why on earth would they want to slay the heartless?" Sora asked himself. The chief shook his head.

"I do not know. But is there any way that we may please you, your greatness? Another sacrifice, perhaps, or maybe a feast?" The chief's voice raised in hope at the end of his sentence.

"Mmmmm. A feast sounds wonderful. Please! That would be great! I'm sure Kairi would enjoy it, and I know Leon needs to lighten up some. He's such a stickler," Sora said, putting his hands behind his head.

"I heard that!" Leon growled from farther up the staircase. Sora only laughed in response.

"So a feast it shall be!" the chief said happily. The travelers fell silent as they continued the rest of the way up the pyramid. When they reached the top, Tzekel-kan pulled back the curtains to reveal a plush room, filled with comfortable pillows. Sitting in the room was a lone figure. Sora's eyes hardened.

"We'll leave you gods be for now," Tzekel-kan said, dropping the curtain after Sora, Kairi and Leon moved into the room.

"Axel," Sora said, stepping towards the man.

"Sora. It's been a while. How are you? Ready to give up Roxas yet?" Axel said, leaning back and gazing at Sora through half lidded, cat-like eyes.

"Where's Riku?" Sora snapped, taking another step forward.



"Calm down, big boy. I'm only here right now to deliver a warning from lover boy. Next time you meet, don't hold back. Riku will take you out without mercy." With those words, Axel stood and opened a portal.

"Wait!" Sora cried, "Is he still here?"

"Oh, he's around. He just didn't want to see your face," Axel said with a smirk before stepping into the portal.

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For Sora, adjusting to being waited on hand and foot was particularly hard. He had guilt crawling up his spine that was whispering and hissing that he shouldn't be living it up like a god, but out there searching for Riku. The big problem was the people thought he was a god and that severely limited his capability to move. Kairi, on the other hand was living it up and enjoying it a little too much. Leon seemed to be somewhere in the middle, not knowing whether to enjoy or cast off the prodding servants, resulting in a rather awkward looking man.

Sora was currently getting pushed and pulled into an outfit similar to the native peoples'. When the servants finally back off, he felt ridiculous. Sure, living on an island gave him enough practice when dealing with people while not wearing a shirt, but he felt utterly estranged in the skirt-like wrap around his hips. Leon had outright refuse to change clothes, perfectly happy in his tight leather, and Kairi had thrown her clothes away somewhat willingly to try on the "cute clothes" the native girls wore.

Kairi was actually pulling off the look much better than he thought she would have. A midriffless, strapless top accented her breasts well, and a low rise skirt with a slit all the way up her leg made her hips appear rounder and more inviting. Looking at his fiancé in such an outfit made him rather displeased that he wouldn't be able to take her aside and ravish her as easily as he'd liked. In fact, he would have to banish any actions like that until he found Riku again, which was turning out to be extremely hard. Kairi's flirty looks and movements weren't helping one bit.

"You look so handsome!" Kairi giggled, pushing the dressing servants away from Sora.

"I feel ridiculous. How can you stand to wear skirts?" Sora pouted trying to tug the fabric around his hips lower.

"Oh, stop that. You'll pull it off if you keep tugging at it like that," Kairi scolded, putting her hand over Sora's. She placed that other at a large necklace dangling around Sora's neck. "Besides, I ithnk you should wear a skirt more often. You look adorable in it." Kairi leaned up on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss to Sora's lips.

"Mmmmm. Well, I think you look rather sexy," Sora purred, moving back down to catch Kairi's lips again.

"You know that we should be concentrating on Riku rather than getting bedded, right?" Leon said, pulling the two lovers out of their kiss just as it was getting heated.

"Come on, Leon. Sora needs a little love to take his mind off Riku. Hell, I need it too. I'm trying to keep us sane," Kairi said, her lower lip jutting out.

"Leon's right, Kairi. I don't think Riku'd be very encouraged to return if he sees us making out or in bed together," Sora murmured, placing one last kiss on Kairi's temple.

"Fine. But are you sure you're alright?" Kairi asked, peering up into Sora's eyes.

"Yes. I'm just fine," Sora chirped, placing a large goofy grin on his face.

As soon as the sun began to set, the three 'gods' where shoved out of their cushy rooms and down the long stairs where a large party was starting to get under way. The smell of alcohol and good food wafted up even to the heights the three were at. Sora's stomach started growling at the delicious smell. The brunette glared down at his stomach, cursing his need for food. Jamestown didn't exactly have much food and they never had the chance to get any while they were at the Indian village.

Sora pondered a while over his growling stomach and decided he'd eat and hold off on the alcohol, and when everyone was nice and drunk, he'd slip off into the night to look for Riku. He knew it was dangerous, but he felt there was no other choice. The people seemed to get very uptight around him when he had tried to walk around the village 

earlier that day. Riku would have to be far away from the village if he was still around and the party presented the perfect opportunity to search the surrounding terrain.

"So this is Sora and Kairi. My look how you've grown!" a voice drawled, pulling Sora out of his thoughts. He found that he was already at the banquet table, standing in front of a large, delicious looking spread. He looked up to see who had addressed him and froze. Sitting across from him was Riku. Sora's smile dropped from his face, and he began to freak out for a moment until he realized that it was not actually Riku but a person that looked very similar. The boy looked much more like Riku did when he was sixteen than the silverette looked now.

"Kadaj?" Leon asked, with a glare in his eyes.

"Yes. Do you not recognize me? That is such a pity, because I do you, Squall. You've hardly changed," the young silverette said, propping his head on a hand and grabbing for a wine cup. He giggled slightly before raising the cup to his lips. "I felt guilty for having to miss out on the sacrifice that Axel and Riku received, but Sephiroth wanted a few words with me. Besides, there was always your party to crash. I think this might turn out more delightful than watching my brother and the pesky fireball cutting up heartless."

"Should you even be drinking that stuff?" Kairi said, crossing her arms and putting her weight on one foot.

"I can probably hold more than you ever could. I think the question is: should you be drinking?" Kadaj asked, arching an eyebrow and laughing. Kairi blushed deeply and looked away. Sora turned to her with a worried expression, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Kairi?"

"I think he's got a point there. I probably shouldn't have anything alcoholic until we have a chance to go to Destiny Islands again. We need to be sure," Kairi murmured. Sora nodded in understanding. They hadn't been procted any of the times they'd had sex since leaving Destiny Islands and they hadn't been able to find pregnancy tests or preventatives in Radiant Garden. If Sora was going to be a father, he definitely didn't want his child to be screwed up because of a night of partying.

"It's alright Kairi. You don't have to drink tonight to have a good time," Sora murmured into her ear. The brunette gently pushed them down so they were seated on a large pillow. Leon eyed the couple wearily, taking a seat beside Sora.

"Won't Riku be happy when he finds out you're here?" Kadaj said, picking up a piece of food. Sora sent the best glare he could across the table.

"I think he already knows we're here. Axel met us shortly after arrival," Sora spat.

"Well, then. He's hiding. You must feel loved. He doesn't even want to see you," Kadaj chuckled. Tzekel-kan slid up beside the silverette and whispered into his ears. Kadaj said a few words back before turning back to the others with a large, wicked grin. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that something has come up that needs my attention. I guess I'll be seeing you later."

"Good riddance," Kairi muttered under her breath as Kadaj rose and followed Tzekel-kan.

"Another follower of Sephiroth. This makes the third. Just interacting with this one makes me want to have a drink," Leon said, grabbing for the alcohol.

"I second that," Sora said, holding a cup out for Leon to pour him some too. Leon poured a glassful for himself and half for Sora. "Hey!"

"You probably shouldn't get too drunk. And I know I have a higher tolerance level," Leon said, downing the glass and reaching to refill. Sora pouted slightly before remembering that he was going to try to sneak off and find Riku that night.

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"So you're interested in learning more about the dark arts than you already do?" Kadaj asked Tzekel-kan as he walked languidly up the temple steps.

"Yes. You are a god of Darkness, are you not? Then I want you to teach me how to harness these Heartless you've released into our world. That can be done right?" Tzekel-kan went off, excitedly.

"My, aren't you eager? Yes, I can teach you, but controlling the heartless comes with a great price. Are you willing to pay it when the time comes?"

"Yes, my liege! Anything! I'll pay anything!" Tzekel-kan said, dropping to Kadaj's feet.

"Good." Kadaj smirked, and stepped around the man to continue up there steps.

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**Author's Note:** So we see how things are getting a little more complicated. Do you guys like where this is going? Serioiusly. I'd like to know! Please tell me in a review!! I'll love you forever!!


	12. Entanglements

Sora made his way through the brush

**Author's Note:** OMG!! I'm so sorry this took so long! I really was loaded down with work this time. It took me longer than I thought to get out GG and then all these projects came up. Anyway, I'm going to Japan on the 26th and won't be back for 3 weeks, so I'll try really hard to get out a chapter of this, GG and maybe a new story.

BlackVegetable—I'm glad you like it. I've had some real doubts about my writing recently, especially on this chapter. I've noticed you on my Review/Alert lists, and it's really appreciated.

StoopidMonkey—Oh geez, I probably drove you up a wall with the huge wait on this. I'm so sorry!! But I like your long reviews; they bring a smile to my face. And I'll get to trying to get that pair in in about... three or so chapters.

KazumaKyu—I'm a freaky stalker person when it comes to my readers, so I guess I feel really complimented when I get a compliment from a guy, especially on a story like this. Hopefully this chapter will satisfy you just as much as the others.

ironyofalostkeyword—I'm sorry to hear that. But unfortunately, I think those kinda situations are all too common today. Riku's situation and Sora and Kairi were sort of based off the shit I had to deal with this year with my now ex-best friend. But knowing me, this will NOT end well. I'm a sucker for horrible angst, and the ending will hopefully catch everyone off gaurd.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned KH right now, I'd probably sell the rights and buy the rights to Final Fantasy Crisis Core... OMG Zack is HOT. Like on the same level as Riku and The final form of Ansem teh Seeker of Darkness in his tight pants and cup... not to mention Cloud and Seph! WHOOOOT... oh wait... this is a KH fic... uuuuuuuh... I don't own it?

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Sora made his way through the brush. He had drank enough that there was a slight buzz in his head. He had slipped away as the party was getting wilder. The search for Riku, however, wasn't going quite as planned. The wooded area around the city wasn't as big as Sora had thought. The brunette didn't even want to think of the possibility that Riku wasn't even in the forest.

In a last ditch effort, Sora decided to search out the entrance to El Dorado—the cave. As he was coming the riverfront for a boat, he heard screams. It took a long moment for the noise to register in his buzzing mind, but when it did, he snapped back to look in the direction of the party. Instincts taking over, Sora ran back to where the people were.

Before Sora could even get with in a few hundred yards, Heartless were growing up from the ground. A mixture of Shadows, Neo Shadows and a new Heartless made their way towards Sora, their eyes glowing bright yellow. The new Heartless were probably the most odd Sora had seen on his adventure yet. They were pure black, with the exception of their glowing yellow eyes. There were three heads, each with their own snarled expression and antennae. Their bodies were large and muscular, with six arms and three barbed tails. The two feet ended in large hooves.

Sora hurriedly called Colors of the Wind, figuring that it would be as good a time as any to try out his new keyblade. He charged at the Heartless, too impatient to wait for them to pounce on him. He slashed through the Shadows and Neo Shadows with great ease, but the new Heartless were giving him trouble. Finally he managed to break through the line of Heartless, killing three with one last hit, and ran for the party.

The sight that greeted him wasn't pretty. Several people were lying on the ground, turning into Heartless, and several more were being attacked. Leon was up and fighting, gunblade in hand. Kairi too was up, killing as many Heartless as she could, Oathkeeper in her grasp. Sora couldn't help but to stop and admire how much Kairi had grown as a fighter for a moment.

With renewed determination, Sora sprang back into action, leaping into the air and attacking a group of Heartless from above. He slashed down before flipping behind another Heartless and slashing through it easily. He continued, cutting his way through the hoards of the black beasts, but as he looked around, Sora noticed there were only more and more spawning from the fallen citizens of El Dorado. Sora began to wonder if it was turning into a hopeless fight.

Suddenly a figure appeared at the top of one of the buildings. Silver hair reflected the moonlight—and for a moment, Sora thought it was Riku. He was sourly disappointed when another figure joined the man on the roof. It was unmistakably Tzekel-kan. Sora slashed, rage filling each blow. He could already see Leon making a path towards the figures on the roof. The younger brunette started cutting a path too.

Then a voice cut through the air, stopping Sora dead in his tracks. "Kadaj!" Sora knew that voice. "You're a fool if you think I'd go with you after this!" Sora turned around slowly and looked up at the top of another building. "Fuck you, and fuck Sephiroth!" The Heartless dissolved around them, confusing Sora, until he remembered just exactly what Riku was capable of. Riku had commanded away the Heartless.

"I'll take you by force, then," Kadaj called back. He nodded to Tzekel-kan and the man raised his hands into the air, a chant on his lips. The ground beneath Sora's feet began to tremble violently, and suddenly one of the giant statues in from the city—a panther—bounded over the building Kadaj and Tzekel-kan were standing on. It crashed down in the clearing, crushing Heartless and knocking Kairi on her ass. Sora barely kept his balance, and had to dismiss Colors of the Wind to not be knocked down. Leon was a few feet away, his gunblade shoved in the ground and supporting his weight.

"Just try me!" Riku screamed out, calling not one, but two keyblades. Sora blinked. He certainly was not expecting that. The statue roared and leapt at Riku, only to be sent flying back as the silverette jumped at the beast and repelled it with one keyblade. Riku flipped and allowed himself to float down slightly before using the statue's head to spring forward. He landed on the building Kadaj occupied and locked blades with him. The two stayed locked until Riku pressed forward, knocking Kadaj off the building, away from the breeding Heartless.

Sora watched the two silverettes until they fell, then drew his attention back to the statue that was just regaining it's senses. It stood back up on all fours and shook itself, as if dispelling water from its nonexistent coat. The creature looked around for a brief moment before spotting Kairi, whom was just getting up herself. When she saw the creature pounding towards her, she froze for a moment. Sora didn't want to take any chances and dashed full speed to his fiancé's side. Though he didn't make it for its initial attack, he was able to leap into the air and catch it off-guard from behind as Kairi attacked from the front.

Leon was quick to join this battle, going for the hind legs as Sora climbed its back and made for its head. The statue shook itself again, flinging Sora from his place on the creature's back. The young brunette hit the ground with a terrible thud. He got up slowly, as to not fall over again from dizziness. He ran towards the monster again, using its hind legs to jump back up on its back. This time he bounded straight for its head and began slashing.

Kairi was just holding her own in front of the statue but was taking more hits than she would have liked. She was focusing more on defense than offense. She swung her keyblade with less skill than Sora, but more than she had the last time she had to participate in a battle this size. Riku had had to protect her somewhat then, but now she was proud of the fact that she didn't need to be covered like she had once before.

A front paw came crashing towards her and she jumped back just in time to avoid the blow. Instantly, she began to whack at the statue's stone leg. The creature reared up, almost knocking Sora from its head again, and came down, biting Kairi on her shoulder. She screamed, reeling back when the statue let her go. Sora tossed her a potion from his position on the statue's head.

Her injuries now sufficiently covered, Kairi returned to the fight, deciding that joining Sora on its head would be the safest way to attack. She swung around back and jumped on its hind leg to hoist herself up onto its back. However, no sooner than she got up did the beast shake off both occupants of its back. Kairi landed hard on the ground, not having anticipated the movement. Sora, however, was able to catch himself in the air and returned himself to the ground safely. Seeing Kairi on the ground, he rushed to her side. It may have been battle, but he wasn't going to let his fiancé go unchecked after a fall like that. He was sure Leon could hold his own against the monster for a few moments.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked, leaning down and touching Kairi's cheek gently. The redhead groaned slightly before opening her eyes and looking up at Sora.

"I think I hit my head and my back hurts, but nothing's broken," she said, sitting up. Sora nodded and fished out a high potion from one of the many pockets in his outfit.

"Here. Take this. They're good for aches and pains. But please, try avoiding dangerous situations at all costs. Too many potions and high potions can literally get you high," Sora murmured, and he pushed the potion into Kairi's hands. She took it and nodded slightly.

"I'll keep that in mind," the redhead said, unscrewing the top and drinking the potion down.

"Maybe you should take the back," Sora said standing up. "You're less likely to get injured, just be careful when that thing tries to hurl you off, ok?"

"Yeah. I get it. Now get back in there Sora," Kairi said, pulling herself to her feet. Sora nodded, pausing only long enough to recall Colors of the Wind. Kairi summoned Oathkeeper again, and together they charged back into battle, Kairi headed straight for the statue's back. This time she made it, and aimed straight for the head, picking up where Sora had left off.

Leon managed to dodge a stone paw as it came down with crushing force. He took the moment to charge forward, energy surrounding his blade as he put most of his energy into the battle. His blade met the stone leg and cut in about an inch deep. He pushed in a little further before ripping his blade from the leg. The leg rose again and swatted him back a good foot. Leon charged again, this time before the paw could hit the ground again. The brunette thrust his sword into the underside of the beast's paw, causing it to let out a deafening roar of pain.

The statue, very suddenly, turned its attentions away from Sora and Kairi, who were just rejoining the battle, to Leon. Leon blocked as the statue's mouth came down. The beast clenched the blade in its jaws and jerked upwards, dragging Leon with it. Leon released his hold on the gunblade as the statue began to shake its head wildly, throwing the weapon across the battlefield when it let go. Leon growled, making a dash to his weapon. The statue, however, shook Kairi off and jumped down in front of him, blocking his path to the gunblade. Leon cursed quietly, backing up as the monster began inching closer.

Finally, it sprung forward, pouncing at Leon. The brunette ducked under the statue and ran forward as fast as he could to the gunblade. By the time he had his hands safely on the gunblade, Sora and Kairi were successfully attacking the creature again. The brunette yanked the weapon from the ground and charged back into battle.

Sora jumped up, flipping in the air before he came down and slammed Colors of the Wind into the statue's muzzle, landing on his feet gingerly. Taking advantage of the beast's shock, Sora jumped back before charging at the statue's legs, chipping off a large chunk. The thing howled and swiped at him with its other paw. He was grazed by the paw but recovered quickly, launching himself forward again. He aimed for its eye this time. Kairi managed to stun it from atop its head, and Sora took advantage by jumping on to the statue's muzzle. He stabbed one of the jewel eyes until he was sure it was destroyed and he felt the beast stir. He jumped back to the ground.

Suddenly Leon charged forward from behind, his gunblade lodged deep in the stone belly. When he reached the front, he jumped high, flipping backwards and shoving his blade hilt deep into the creature's head. The beast let out a bloodcurdling scream as it began to crumble into nothing. When Leon touched the ground, he immediately went to his knees. Sweat trickled down his brow as he tried to catch his breath. He'd used too much energy on that last attack. Sora noticed this quickly and tossed Leon an elixir. Leon drank it eagerly.

"How dare you!" cried Tzekel-kan from his position on the rooftop. Everyone's attention snapped to the man. The high priest jumped from the building, landing gracefully on his feet. "You will pay for destroying my play thing, even if you _are_ gods!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Kadaj and Riku went plummeting to the earth, head first, blades locked together. A few precious feet from the ground, they shoved each other back and flipped, landing on the dirt and sliding back. Immediately they charged at each other, locking blades again. Applying as much pressure as he could, Kadaj thrust them sideways, forcing them to circle each other. A large grin took over Kadaj's features as he looked Riku in the eyes from between their blades.

"You're so tense. Is it because Sora's just over that building, fighting for his life?" Kadaj teased, pushing away from Riku as the older man growled and thrust with all his energy, sending energy shocks through the ground without even touching it.

"Leave him out of this!" Riku yelled, charging forward again.

"Oh! Looks like I've hit a very sore subject," Kadaj said, his grin turning into a smirk. He parried Riku's attack, soon after blocking the second with his foot. Kadaj pushed the blades away, swiftly turning and cutting Riku across his face, leaving twin cuts from his double-bladed sword. "Are you jealous? Or maybe you're resentful towards him?"

"Shut up!" was Riku's only reply as he nailed Kadaj in the back, just below the base of his neck. Kadaj reeled back after the hit, putting a little distance between them. He twirled his blade idly in his left hand before gripping it properly and charging at Riku again. Riku parried with one hand and twisted to hit Kadaj in the side with his other keyblade. Kadaj sacrificed getting hit to take advantage of Riku's opening. He pulled his sword away and thrust it under Riku's guarding arm, stabbing him in the gut. Riku tried to reel back, but Kadaj continued forward, following Riku until the older man put in an extra burst of speed and escaped his blade.

"Cure!" Riku shouted, not missing a beat. He twirled his keyblades as he continued away from Kadaj. The younger silverette continued forward at a lightning speed. Kadaj attacked, twirling his blade between each hit. He moved steadily and unevenly between Riku's blades. Riku expertly blocked each move. Suddenly, Kadaj kicked the keyblade out of Riku's hand as the other was occupied with his blade. The younger silverette shoved forward, knocking Riku off balance. Riku moved with the fall, using the momentum to back-handspring with his empty hand. Once he was back safely on his two feet again, Kadaj was in his face.

The side of Riku's face met with the hilt of Kadaj's sword, causing the older silverette to be thrown sideways. Riku braced himself as he hit the ground hard and skidded. He quickly pulled himself up just enough to get in a good attacking position as Kadaj came flying towards him. The younger silverette lunged as Riku launched himself up, calling both of his keyblades back. Riku blocked with his right arm, causing Kadaj's blade to go flying and land tip down in the dirt. With his left, Riku hit Kadaj in the head, just short of his temple. Kadaj fell, skidding some from the force of Riku's blow. He pulled himself up, though, ignoring the growing pain in his head.

Little whispers in the back of his mind told Kadaj to attack with all he had—to bring back his older brother even if it meant putting him in a coma. As Riku closed in on him his vision got lighter, making it harder for him to see Riku coming at him. He cried out, enraged that he was going to lose this early. But Sephiroth had warned him. Kadaj didn't care about the warnings anymore, though. He stood and launched himself at Riku again, without his weapon. He pulled back his left arm, as if to punch the older silverette. Crying out, a light glowed from within his arm, pooling red energy in his hand. He slammed his hand into Riku's face when he was near enough, ignoring the blades cutting into his sides.

The energy exploded in Riku's face, sending the older silverette flying back and into a wall. Riku slumped down the wall and to the ground, unmoving. Kadaj stood still for a moment, catching his breath before turning to fetch his sword. He wrapped his hands around the hilt of his beloved sword and gently pulled it from the ground. However, before he could turn around, he was slammed in the head again, sending him face first into the dirt. He rolled onto his back and stared up at Riku.

"I'm not weak enough to safely turn your back to," Riku spat. Kadaj just leaned back and laughed. The older silverette raised Way to Dawn high in the air, ready to attack.

"You're so much stronger when swarmed by the power of Darkness. Big Brother told me so. If you're this strong now, just imagine how strong you'd be if you just joined us!" Kadaj laughed. His head was pounding too much for him to get up and continue.

"Like I'd ever want to join you," Riku scoffed at him and sheathed Way to Dawn in his stomach. Kadaj gasped in pain, his vision going black.

"Big Brother..." Kadaj hoarsed out as he lost consciousness.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Yazoo stood on one of the tallest buildings in El Dorado, watching the people get massacred, a small smile on his lips. More Heartless meant better things for him and his brothers. He, however, regretted that Riku wasn't coming so easily. It appeared that the older man was calling Kadaj out now, as the chaos rumbled and boiled bellow them. Yazoo barely made Sora and his comrades out in the swirling sea of black and yellow. Slow steps approached him from behind, but he did not turn around.

"So here you are. I was wondering if you'd run away after a show like that. Guess you just ran to safety. How endearing is that. Bet Kadaj loves you for it."

"I don't see what the problem is. Kadaj wanted to fight Riku alone anyway. Are we going to fight now? I'd like to get this over with quickly. Sephiroth is waiting." The person behind him scoffed.

"Whatever. If you want a fight, you got it. Burn, baby!" A chakram flew past Yazoo's head in warning, causing his long silver hair to fan out in the air. The young man swirled around, gun drawn and aimed at the annoying redhead. Firing, he jumped to the side, avoiding the chakram as it came back. Axel blocked the bullet with his second chakram and jumped forward after the silverette. With a simple flick of his wrist the entire top of the building was engulfed in flames, barring all exit paths.

Yazoo ducked down as Axel threw his remaining chakram. The spinning object disappeared into the flames as Axel called two more. Yazoo pulled another gun from a holster on his ankle, scrambling low across the ground, shooting at Axel's feet. The redhead sneered, jumping up and backwards into the flames.

"You know, you're really annoying to fight against. I still haven't settled the score from last time," Axel spat, a chakram flying out from the flames right behind Yazoo, tearing the fabric on the man's shoulder. The silverette glared at the flames, ejecting his empty ammo cartilages and quickly replacing them. Quickly, he extended each arm straight, aiming the guns at the walls of flame. Another chakram spun out from the flames, straight at Yazoo's feet. Instead of dodging, he ran straight for it, towards the center of the rooftop. At the last moment he jumped, flipping in the air and firing both guns at the flames. He landed on his feet, crouched low. In a fluid motion, he stood, twisting with the triggers of his guns firmly pulled back.

He rotated, giving the flames a steady cover of bullets. Suddenly a chakram flew from above, knocking the gun from Yazoo's left hand. Another shortly followed, this time attached to Axel. The forgotten chakram burned away in flame as Axel managed to push Yazoo to the ground. Yazoo's remaining gun pressed against Axel's temple while the spikes on Axel's chakram pressed into Yazoo's throat. Axel glared down at the silverette.

A scream sounded from one of the fights down below. Axel cursed, knowing that that yell sounded very much like Riku. Taking a last initiative, he forced flames to erupt directly around them, catching Yazoo's leather on fire. He pulled back quickly as the man beneath him jerked, trying to put the flames out. As he moved away, he was vaguely aware of the sound of Yazoo's firing. The redhead cursed again, feeling the pain of the shot in his shoulder. He ignored it and continued on, making the flames flare around Yazoo.

The redhead willed away the flames enclosing their battle and looked down at the two battles going on. Sora, Leon, and Kairi were still struggling against the giant statue and Kadaj seemed to be alone. Axel swore, panic running through him when he couldn't spot Riku. He jumped down from the ledge on to the closest building. Running from building top to building top, he watched as Riku reappeared and struck down Kadaj. His feet landed on the ground where the battle had taken place just as Riku was pulling his blade from Kadaj's body.

"Where's Yazoo?" Riku asked, fatigue clear in his voice.

"Burning on a building somewhere. You're tired. We should go and get you patched up," Axel said, moving towards his comrade.

"You're injured too," Riku said dryly, moving away from the Nobody and over the teen on the ground.

"It'll heal in no time flat. Just a bullet wound with no bullet, a potion will do the trick—but you, on the other hand..." Axel hissed, wincing as his head turned to the other side. "Your face is a bloody mess. We need to get that cleaned off and treated. What would Sora think if he saw you like that?"

"What Sora thinks doesn't matter anymore!" Riku snapped, whirling back to look at the Nobody. Blood dripped down his face, trailing down his neck and soaking into his cloak. Deep gashes marred his skin and there were even regions that seemed to be lacking skin or were burned. Blood had leaked into his eyes, staining them the same color as the liquid. His aqua eyes had taken on a strange, haunting look.

"I guess it doesn't, but your face scares me," Axel said dryly.

"You don't have a heart. You can't get scared."

"Then let me put it this way: I'm afraid that your face will drive me out of my sane mind. Better?"

"It makes more sense, anyway," Riku sighed, turning away from the redhead. "Let's go far from here. I don't think it'll be safe to relax any this close to these guys."

"Right. To the temple. That should be safe for the time being," Axel said, running past Riku. The silverette ran, catching up with the Nobody. It was better to run together with Riku in the state he was. When they reached the base of the steps, Riku collapsed, refusing to go any farther. Axel sighed and plopped down beside him. Riku turned over on his back and reached into his cloak, withdrawing a high potion. Axel snatched it from his hand, drinking it down.

"Hey," Riku said, glaring up at Axel. The redhead only grinned down at him.

"I think it'd be a good idea to clean your face before we give you the healing medicine. We don't want dirt or anything embedded in your skin." Axel stood, walking over to a torch. He lit it before moving back to Riku, pulling a white handkerchief from his cloak, followed by an ether. He poured the liquid onto the cloth and knelt in front of Riku, working quickly to get the blood off his face. When he was satisfied with Riku's face, he pulled an elixir from his cloak and poured the medicine on it.The silverette jerked away, the liquid stinging his wounds.

"Thanks a lot," Riku sputtered, sitting up. Most of the wounds had already started to heal. Axel handed the silverette another elixir, which he drank down rather quickly.

"Riku, your eyes are bloodstained. I suggest you wear this," Axel murmured, holding out a black blindfold. Riku looked at it quizzically before taking it and tying it tightly around his head.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"You're crazy," Leon called out. "You're outnumbered and facing gods. Do you really think you can beat us?" Tzekel-kan stepped forward, lifting his arms in the air.

"I'll test my limits. Kadaj bestowed me with a power that was beyond any magic I have!" As he said this, Tzekel-kan's body began to twitch and bulge. His eyes glowed bright yellow in the dark, fangs seemed to slide from his gums, and the petite man's muscles grew larger. Tzekel-kan returned his hands to his side, cracking his joints before charging directly at Kairi with catlike precision. Leon was in front of her in an instant, blocking the man as Sora charged him from behind.

Tzekel-kan arched, grabbing Colors of the Wind before it could strike him. He whirled, flinging Sora away from him. Leon took the chance to slash at the priest's back, his blade flowing through just as easily as it did with the Heartless.The older brunette stepped back, slightly shocked, but regained his composure quickly. The priest lunged sideways and headed for Kairi again. This time the woman was a little more prepared and summoned Oathkeeper, blocking the man's claws. Sora and Leon rounded from both sides, readying to attack. Just before they made contact, Tzekel-kan pushed off Kairi's keyblade and back-flipped away.

The priest landed crouched low to the ground on all fours, growling. Leon and Sora collided, their blades just barely missing each other's heads. Leon pushed back and charged at Tzekel-kan. The Priest stood and charged, but easily leapt over Leon and ran straight for Sora. The younger brunette picked that up and readied himself.

Tzekel-kan came in low, attempting to swipe Sora's chest, but Sora managed to step back in time. The keyblade master swung down at Tzekel-kan but the man dodged by falling to the ground. The priest kicked at Sora's feet but the brunette jumped over them. Leon's gunblade slammed down through Tzekel-kan's chest on the right side. The man laughed, gripping the blade and throwing it from his body. He stood and charged at Sora, catching him off-guard. The bottom of Tzekel-kan's palm made contact with Sora's chin, sending him backwards onto the ground.

Kairi saw an opening in Tzekel-kan's defenses as he knocked Sora down and moved forward, striking at the man's exposed back. Leon followed swiftly after, slicing down the entirety of the priest's back. Sora struggled to get up, summoning a fire spell in his left had as he did. Tzekel-kan had whirled around backwards to fend off Leon and Kairi, leaving Leon with a busted lip.Sora hurled the flaming ball at the priest before charging back at him.

Colors of the Wind slid into Tzekel-kan's chest, protruding neatly from the other side. The blade had gone through the exact area where his heart should have been. The priest's glowing yellow eyes widened before he screamed and started to fade away. Sora pulled back, watching the man dissolve.

"So you really are gods..." Tzekel-kan managed before his last wisp of darkness faded into the night and the pink heart in his chest floated away to join the others in Kingdom Hearts.

Leon sighed, averting his eyes from the empty space and to the carnage around them. Many people had succumbed to the Heartless that were now banished by Riku. Who knew where he sent them and what they'd be used for. The remaining people were in pain, claw marks littering their bodies. Leon heaved a sigh. It was just like the Heartless attacks on Radiant Garden and Traverse Town.

Sora was quiet as Kairi moved next to him, taking his arm in hers. The younger brunette snapped his attention up to where he had seen Riku and Kadaj tumble over earlier. He breathed out slowly before looking at Kairi apologetically.

"I'm sorry," Sora murmured quietly, gently pulling away from Kairi. "I have to go after Riku. I don't know when my next chance will be." With that, he ran in the direction he'd known Riku had fallen. Kairi frowned, concern taking over her features.

"Please, be careful Sora!" she called out before turning back to Leon.

"We should help these people," Leon said, turning away from her. Kairi only nodded, preparing to deal with the aftermath of the attack.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Author's Note: So yeah... I thought I'd thank my Beta, Nie, down here... She's amazing and you should go read her work on her account, Stu-P0t. Now, I do feel rather iffy about this chapter, so please give me feed back!! I'll luffles you forever!!


	13. The Black Widow

**Author's Note: **Wow, it's been a while. This is the chapter you guys have been waiting. I went to Japan and it was wonderful… Um, I got distracted by reading I didn't do and still have finished and my new Final Fantasy 7 story. Go check it out. This is dedicated to the only two people who reviewed last time! Love ya!!

-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Sora ran farther into the dark and deserted city. He was eerily reminded of the World That Never Was. The lack of activity—of any human activity at all—unnerved him, driving him to find Riku faster. He slowed as he neared the temple and heard soft murmurs and a slight gasp. When the noises registered as most likely human, he picked up speed again. Light reflected from unmistakable silver hair a few feet from where he was standing. The blindfold was back on Riku's face, though he didn't remember it there before.

"I guess the pipsqueak finally found us," muttered Axel, calling Sora's attention to him for the first time. The Nobody stood, sighing. "This isn't my battle to fight, so I'll be going now. Don't screw up, Riku." The silveret nodded to Axel before stepping away. The redhead called a portal and stepped back into it.

"Riku… You… You need to come back Riku," Sora stuttered, trying to reason with his ex-best friend.

"I can't do that, Sora. I don't know why you haven't realized that yet. You should have avoided me," Riku said, calling Way to Dawn. Sora winced, calling Colors of the Wind. He didn't want this fight to ever come.

Riku charged first, taking his keyblade in both hands. Sora didn't move, choosing to block Riku's onslaught instead. The blades locked, and Sora struggled with all his strength to keep Riku from pushing him back. Suddenly, Riku removed one hand from his keyblade and summoned his second blade. The silveret swung at Sora's side, forcing the brunet so break the lock between blades and jump to the side.

"Why, Riku? Why can't you come back?" the brunet called desperately, picking himself up.

"Why? Sora, you can't be serious," Riku said in disbelief, shaking his head. He charged again, this time jumping into the air, avoiding Sora's parry. He landed softly and blasted Sora with a dark fireball. The brunet cried out as he stumbled forward.

"Can we please try to work this out peacefully?" Sora cried, turning around swiftly. Riku only laughed dryly.

"Peacefully? We're past that point, Sora. Way past that."

"I don't understand…"

"It fucking takes me giving into the darkness in my heart and soul for you to finally want to sit down and have a peaceful talk?"

"You're just running away!"

"I'm saving what little sanity I have left!" Riku yelled, charging forward. Sora blocked, but was force to move back, and keep moving under the onslaught of Riku's keyblades.

"Riku—" Sora tried to get out but was cut off as Riku managed to slash through his cheek.

"You want to know why I can't come back? Do you?" Riku pressed on harder, making it all that Sora could not to be struck down. "It's because of _you_. Because you could never deal with me being gay. Because you could never see past your love for Kairi and see that I was in real pain. Because you are my light and made me learn that your side is not where I belong."

"We can work this out!" Sora cried, giving up on trying to block anything but attacks aimed towards his heart.

"No, we can't," Riku said dully, voice dead. The silveret released his second keyblade and sending another dark fireball at Sora. The brunet crashed into the ground, clutching his stomach. "Every time you had the chance to really work this out with me, you told me I was horrible and needed to get over myself. Thanks a lot for the advice. Looks like I'm getting over myself."

"Riku…"

"I love you, Sora. I love you so fucking much that I'm willing to do anything to restore things to normal for you. Unfortunately, I'm going to need to take you out of the picture to do that. Now fight me like you mean it." Riku formed another dark fireball and held it in his hand. He watched as Sora stood slowly, regaining his strength.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-

"Kairi, go over that way. I think there are people that need attention over there. I've got these over here," Leon commanded, administering a potion to a wounded person.

"Alright. Holler if you need any help," Kairi said, starting her way off. She clumsily tripped her way through the rubble. She was tired and worn out from the party and the fighting. Although she had been getting better, she was nowhere near Leon and Sora when it came to stamina. Now that the fighting was done, her adrenaline was running out. She had thought about taking a potion to revitalize herself, but found it wiser to save it for when she could no longer heal.

She reached the group of people that Leon had spotted and frowned slightly. It was a woman and child. They had been trapped by a piece of building that had been broken off by the statue monster. She moved to the chunk and began to push at it. After a few good hefts, she was able to throw the chunk off and examine the pair. They were awake but appeared to be dazed.

"Are you alright? Are there any places that hurt?" She asked, leaning down to their level. The woman nodded and motioned to her back and what looked like a broken arm. Kairi nodded and raised her hand in a cure spell. When she was done, she helped the woman to sit upright. The child whimpered in his mother's arms. Kairi carefully pulled the child's face so that he was looking at her.

"What's wrong, can you tell me?" She asked as gently as she could.

"My, my leg," the child whimpered. Kairi nodded and hovered her hand over the indicated injured leg and cured the wound.

"I think you'll be fine now. Please don't move about too much. It's still very dangerous here," Kairi informed, standing. She scouted the area for the next group of people. Leon passed her, motioning for her to follow him. There seemed to be a large group farther up.

"Thank you**," **the woman said as Kairi left to follow Leon. She waved kindly at the two before jogging slightly to catch up with Leon. They walked a little farther before kneeling down before the injured. They worked as fast as they could on the rather large group. When they were done, Leon pointed to another group of huddled people. They set off.

"Sora was so desperate to confront Riku," Kairi said, not liking the silence between them.

"Yes, though I don't think that it's wise for him to try to interact with Riku just yet," Leon replied, shaking his head.

"Really? Then why didn't you try to stop him?"

"Because, I shouldn't interfere with their relationship. Riku is very delicate right now, and I'm sure that Sora is on edge as well. I just don't think Sora's negotiation tactics are the best."

"How so?"

"Sora will either try to rationalize all his actions, placing blame on Riku like he has in the past or will act like he did when confronting Riku back when everything started. He didn't really try anything there to salvage his relationship with Riku and was more worried over you."

"I feel like such a third wheel right now."

"Same, but we really can't do anything right now. It's between them, and they will settle it themselves," Leon said as he dropped down in front of this new group of people. Kairi moved to the other side.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. I just don't like feeling this helpless."

"Helpless? I don't really think you know the true meaning of helpless," a new, rather deep and familiar voice chimed. Leon turned, startled more by the voice than Kairi.

"Cloud?" he managed to stutter out.

"Fancy meeting you here, Leon."

-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Sora dodged the fireball Riku hurled at him before grabbing a potion and downing it. When he threw the bottle aside, Riku was charging at him. He dodged Riku and attacked him from the side. Riku stumbled slightly before regaining his composure. Sora took the moment to place a little distance between them and start casting a blizzara spell**. **He directed the iceball at Riku, but the older only raised his keyblade and blocked before seemingly teleporting behind Sora.

Riku slashed the back of Sora's shoulders with the tip of Way To Dawn, drawing blood. Sora scrambled away, turning around to face Riku. He charged, both hands on his keyblade and ignoring the pain in his back. He couldn't believe he was fighting with Riku again. The thought seemed foreign these days. However, he wouldn't lose. He'd win no matter what and force Riku to sit down and return to them.

"This is stupid Riku, really stupid!" Sora called out just before he made contact with Riku's keyblade. Riku re-summoned his second keyblade and struck at Sora's arm.

"You're right. This is stupid. We should have been over this a long time ago. But we aren't. Old habits die hard," Riku snarled as Sora stumbled back. Riku twisted around completely and slammed Way to Dawn into Sora's side, causing the brunet to sputter.

"I'm not going to let myself lose to you!" Sora yelled, casting a cure spell and charging at Riku again with an onslaught of attacks. Riku dodged and blocked expertly, only getting hit a handful of times. When Sora hesitated just once, Riku saw his chance to break the cycle and struck at Sora low, through the gut.

"I really don't think you have the ability to beat me Sora. It's been too long," Riku said, twisting the keyblade before pulling it out.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-

"Cloud, where have you been?" Leon asked, standing up. His hand was moving towards the gunblade just in case Cloud's intentions weren't peaceful.

"I was fighting Sephiroth," Cloud said, stepping a little closer to Leon. "We were transported away during the fight and I was left in the dark, alone. Next thing I knew, I was taken hostage by Sephiroth."

"Taken hostage? You normally don't let things like that happen to you," Leon replied.

"We fought again and I lost. He took me away while I was unconscious."

"Right. So how did you manage to get here?" Leon asked, his voice flat.

"I escaped while Kadaj was off guard. I followed his portal," Cloud replied readily. Leon looked Cloud up and down before firmly gripping the gunblade.

"I don't believe you," the brunet deadpanned. Cloud raised his eyebrow and Kairi snapped her attention towards Leon.

"You don't have any reason not to believe me," Cloud said, standing his ground.

"You look too healthy to be Sephiroth's hostage. It's been about a week. If you'd been his prisoner, I know you would have resisted and you wouldn't be able to walk. Sephiroth isn't exactly kind to those he sinks his claws into. You went with him voluntarily, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," Cloud said, looking slightly off to the side. "He was going to kill the girls if I didn't."

"Stop with the bullshit, Cloud. I know Sephiroth isn't that kind of man. He may kill indiscriminately, but he doesn't threaten," Leon spat, drawing the gunblade.

"You really know how to read me, don't you? When did that happen?" Cloud said quietly, shaking his head slightly. "I was… hoping to not have to do this, at least not yet anyway." His lip twitched upwards ever so slightly as he spoke. He reached slowly for the buster sword on his back.

"You've given into him haven't you?" Leon questioned, gripping the gunblade tighter, finger twitching slightly on the trigger.

"Yeah, I have. Sorry things have to be this way."

"Kairi get back. You'll only get in the way during this fight. Cloud's on a different level than everything we've faced so far," Leon commanded. Kairi nodded and moved the people that she could away with her. Cloud removed his blade from his back and took an offensive stance.

Cloud lurched forward with great speed. Leon had just enough time to block the attack and dodge back before Cloud was repeating the movement from his side. Leon blocked again, this time with his blade pointing to the ground. He forced his blade into the earth, lowering Cloud's with it**.** From his lowered, crouching position, he sprang forward, ramming into Cloud's left shoulder. The gunblade had scraped through the dirt and away from the buster sword. The metal of the gunblade met with the steel toe of Cloud's boot.

The blond only stumbled back slightly, moving with Leon's attack the best he was able to judge. He was caught off guard, however, when Leon's left fist slammed into stomach and the gunblade disappeared from in front of his foot. The butt of the gun slammed into his neck and for just a moment, Cloud thought he was going to pass out.However, Leon had missed the proper target for such an attack, and both men knew it.

Leon took the brief moment when Cloud was stunned to put some distance between them. The brunet started a fire spell just as Cloud recovered and charged him again. Leon fired the spell as he dodged backwards. Cloud slowed as he was forced to slash through the fireball. He continued forward, dragging the tip of the blade through the ground as he moved. When Cloud reached hitting distance from Leon, he swung upwards, slicing through the brunet's shirt and into the skin. Leon recoiled, his left hand shooting to the wound to check for blood. He could feel the sticky substance already starting to leak from the gash.

Cloud took the chance for another attack, flipping the sword and coming back down. Leon met the buster sword with the gunblade as he stepped into the attack. He cocked the gun and met Cloud's gaze. The blade was aligned with Cloud's knee, meaning the bullet would hit in that area and effectively cripple him for the rest of the battle. Just as Leon pulled the trigger, Cloud jumped back. The bullet missed Cloud's knee but lodged itself in his shin, a few inches above his ankle.

Leon lifted his blade and charged Cloud as the blond took in that he'd actually been shot. The brunet managed to stab the blade into Cloud's stomach before the hilt of Cloud's sword connected with the back of his neck. It too was off target, only stunning Leon for a moment. As Leon thrust the gunblade deeper, he felt the air around them grow heavier, more menacing. Cloud attempted once again to push Leon away. The brunet conceded this time.

The blond stumbled back a few steps, clutching his stomach with his left hand and favoring his leg. Leon took the chance to scan the area. His eyes stopped when he saw the figure appear behind Cloud and grip him around the waist. Cloud groaned as he was pulled back into the broad chest. He closed his eyes and relaxed slightly into the embrace. Silver hair fell over his shoulder as the man leaned down to whisper into Cloud's ear.

"S-sephiroth," Cloud breathed out. "I thought you were going to leave this to me."

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

Sora grunted as the blade was removed**. **He performed a quick cure spell before pushing forward on Riku.He slashed into the silveret's left arm then pulled back and cast a fireball. Riku dodged the fireball and charged at Sora again, this time going for the heart. Sora blocked easily and pressed back with his whole body weight. Riku swung with his other hand, catching the brunet in the shoulder. Sora pulled back instantly, looking Riku in the eye.

"I can't let myself lose to you," Sora breathed out. He was starting to realize he really was no match for Riku.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

"Why are you here?" Cloud groaned out as Sephiroth's fingers probed his stomach wound.

"Aren't you the rebellious one tonight. The wound is quite deep. If I had waited any longer, he would have pushed through to the other side, and I cannot let that happen," Sephiroth said, pressing his fingers in further. Cloud hissed in pain but did nothing to pull away.

"Sephiroth, let him go. You have no reason to even have him in the first place," Leon yelled, taking a defensive stance.

"You are foolish, Squall. He came to me of his own free will, like we all knew he would. It was a matter of time," Sephiroth said calmly, only sparing the brunet a passing glance.

"Shut up!" Leon spat, offended by both the name and the words.

"It's true," Cloud said, reaching up and burying a hand in Sephiroth's hair. Leon narrowed his eyes.

"Why did things have to happen like this?" the brunet whispered, clutching the gunblade even tighter.

"Cloud and I are two halves of a whole. We are not complete without the other. No one else ever stood a chance," Sephiroth explained, pulling his fingers from Cloud's stomach. He pressed the bloody appendages to Cloud's lips. The blond took them in and licked them clean. When Cloud was done, Sephiroth returned his hand to the wound and cast cure. He pressed a light kiss to Cloud's cheek before pulling away. "Rest up for now. I know you must still be tired. I will finish this altercation."

The next moment, Sephiroth was gone and Cloud was slumped against on the ground, reaching towards his gunshot wound. And next thing Leon knew, he felt searing pain in his back, blood was forcing itself past his lips as he gasped, and one final dull hit to the back of his head sent him into darkness.

-ox-ox-ox-ox-ox-

"I'm going to walk away from this battle," Sora said, trying to reassure himself, though he knew it was completely useless. He had to keep trying though. Riku had to have been worn down by Kadaj. He lashed out, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. Riku blocked the attack then stepped back. Sora raised his arms to swing down at Riku, but the silveret saw his window of opportunity. Riku charged in and thrust Way to Dawn into Sora's heart.

Sora gasped, but otherwise stood immobilized. Riku pressed in deeper before dismissing the keyblade and forcing his own hand through Sora's chest. He gripped the heart of the man he loved more than anything and tugged it lightly. It was a strange sensation, to hold the heart that he'd always wanted to possess. Sora's features flickered back and forth between his own and Roxas'.

"What are you planning to accomplish by doing this?" Sora forced out. He was slightly shocked, though, when he realized his voice was underlain by Roxas'.

"I don't know what they have planned for you. This wasn't my decision," Riku answered, his voice lifeless.

"I bet you've always wanted to possess Sora's heart. Are you going to keep it with you like Sora did when Kairi lost hers?" This time it was Roxas' voice alone. Sora knew he was slipping away—he could feel himself falling into darkness.

Riku retracted his hand fully, clutching the heart in his hand. There was a soft thud as Sora's body hit the ground, limp and lifeless. Roxas stood in front of Riku, staring with eyes full of unreadable emotions.


End file.
